A Burning Ember
by AngelEyes213
Summary: Tris Prior is a top agent for a secret government agency. She's been on many difficult missions and has risked her life countless times without a second thought about it. And luck has it, that she's sent on a top-priority mission alongside Tobias Eaton - a man she loathes and cannot be near.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

"If you don't start paying attention – you're going to get hurt." A fist whizzes past my face, and I block it, shoving the arm away and then going in to elbow the attacker, stopping millimeters from his chest.

"I'm good at multitasking." I retort, shooting a glare at him.

Tobias Eaton steps back, recovering from my block, and shakes his head. "It doesn't matter how good at multitasking you are – it is imperative that you…"

I interrupt him. "Completely focus, yeah, I know." I cross my arms. "I got it, Tobias. I'm not a child." I shove past him, grabbing a clean towel to dry my sweaty face off with. "I'm one of the best in the business."

Okay, maybe I was being a bit cocky, but hey, it was true.

"It's true – she is." I turned at the sound of another voice, and smirked when I saw a tall woman, with short brown hair. Lauren – the second in command for our headquarters. She occasionally watched me practice fighting – especially if it involved Tobias, because according to her, we butted heads so much, it made for an interesting fight. "But so are you, Tobias."

He smirks at me and I roll my eyes.

You'd expect that as secret agents, we'd have more dignity, but when it came to Tobias – I wanted to always one up him.

"However," Lauren continues and I see Tobias's smirk fall. "Tris, you are becoming a much better fighter – a lot faster than most of the higher ups, even." I smile. "But you are letting that get to your head and it will be your downfall."

Isn't it always?

With that, Lauren leaves and I follow behind her, done practicing for the day. I make my way out of the training rooms and into an elevator, pressing the button for my floor.

I arrived to my room and shut the door behind me, tossing the soiled towel on the floor. "Christina?" Christina was my roommate and my best friend since we started going to middle school together and our dads forced us into this life.

She was under her covers, and I didn't know if she was asleep or just listening to music.

I shook her shoulder, and she looked up at me, her face angry. "What the hell happened to you?" I ask, sitting down on my bed across from her.

She pushes herself up into a sitting position and kicks the covers away. "Will was sent on a mission…" She begins and I already don't see a problem – it's what we're supposed to do. It's our job. "And right before he left, we had a fight." I nodded, understanding. Will was Christina's boyfriend and she really loved him, no matter how much they fought. "And he's going to be gone for six months."

That was the thing about our missions – we could be gone two days or thirteen months. Nobody ever knew how long they would be gone until right before they left for the mission. It was annoying, yeah, but it made our jobs interesting.

Let me clarify that we _are _secret agents, but not the type that act as bodyguards for the President or for another important person – no, we take on jobs that are too dangerous for the secret agents and anybody else, for that matter. We risk our lives each time we go out for work. But it's worth it – we keep people safe.

I didn't know what to say to her – on one hand, I felt bad because she was my best friend, but on the other, it was our job and she knew that.

But I couldn't blame her. Christina didn't fight or do any of that – she worked in logistics, talking people through their missions, helping them break into secure places, hacking networks. She was basically a computer nerd. But a kick-ass one at that – she was the best and she was mine. She was always the one talking to me through an ear piece when I went out.

"Maybe they'll let you be his guide on this." It was a stupid and hopeless comment – most of the upper hands didn't like couples guiding each other, worried that one might get too distracted and ruin everything.

We are a _very _loving facility.

There was a soft knock at the door, and then Al poked his head in. I smiled at him and Christina just pulled a pillow to her chest. "Hey, Al." I nodded towards him.

Al was a good friend of mine and he may have _some _feelings towards me – and I had to admit, he was kind of cute, but I didn't return those feelings.

"Uhm, Lauren wants to speak with you, Tris." I nod and thank him, standing up. He closes the door behind him and I push myself off my bed.

"Do you know why she wants to speak to you?" Christina asked, standing up. I shake my head and shrug.

"Who knows? Maybe she just wants to give me a promotion." I wink and she laughs.

"You wish." She throws a pillow at me as I duck out the door.

I make my way to the main floor, towards Lauren's office.

The entire floor for the leaders was made with glass walls – so Lauren saw me as soon as I stepped off the elevator.

"Tris, I need you in here." Her voice was strained and she gestured quickly. I furrowed my brows and followed her into her office.

"What's wrong?" I stood behind the two chairs that sat in front of her desk and watched as she sat behind her computer and started typing furiously. There were three men surrounding her and they all looked tensed.

"We're sending you out on a last minute mission," she looked up at me for a second, her eyes apologetic. "It's top priority."

I stood up straighter and my face became a mask of seriousness. "What is it?"

"You are aware of who Jeanine Matthews is, correct?" She raised an eyebrow and I nodded once, ignoring the questioning looks I was receiving from the three men.

Jeanine Matthews was trying to create a serum that would allow her to control anyone who she injected it with – we had people "helping" slow the progression rate and so far it had been successful.

"Well, apparently she found out about our…spies and is planning on using them as test monkeys." Lauren glared at the screen. "And we need them out of there."

"What about the injections?" I took a step closer.

She shook her head. "They can be stopped – we need to get our agents out of there, _alive_. We can't allow Matthews to hurt them."

I nod and then look at the three men. "Are they coming with me?"

Lauren shakes her head, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "No, they are not." She walks in front of her desk and leans back against it, crossing her arms over her chest. "_He_ is going with you." She nods to someone behind me and I turn around.

Tobias is standing in the doorway.

"No! Absolutely not! He'll just screw it all up!" I glared at Tobias and then glared at Lauren.

Tobias scoffed. "If anyone is going to screw up this mission, it'll be you."

"Oh go fuck yourself."

"Agent Prior!" Lauren exclaimed.

I looked down at the floor, embarrassed. I would apologize to Tobias, but that would mean that I needed to be nice to him.

She cleared her throat and stood up straight. "You two will be taking on this mission and you will do so _without killing each other_." I rolled my eyes and bit the inside of my cheek. "You both need to be more focused on getting our members out of Jeanine Matthews' hands and back to safety – instead of focusing on your differences. Now go." She ordered.

I couldn't argue with her – she was our boss and we had to listen to her.

Tobias left the room first and I followed behind me, trying to keep my distance.

"Pack your things and we'll meet in the arsenal in twenty minutes." He looked over his shoulder at me, face serious, and then turned left down a hall towards his room.

Once back in my room, I grabbed a duffel bag and threw the first pieces of clothing my hands touched. A majority of my wardrobe consisted of black clothing – necessary for if you were going to break into a mastermind's lair and not be seen by outsiders.

"Tris! I'm on your mission." Christina burst into the room and smiled brightly. I nodded. "Whoa, what's your problem?"

"Well this oh-so-important mission Lauren assigned me to involves Tobias Eaton." I flashed a sarcastic smile. "He's my partner."

"Well don't worry; I'll have your back." She winked at me. "And I can always make it so that he never sees anyone or does anything." We both knew she couldn't do that – it would cost her to lose her job and probably erase a large part of her memory.

"That's not necessary." I shrug and throw my duffel bag over my shoulder. "I have ways to get him to listen to me."

I got to the arsenal before Tobias did, so I started grabbing things and throwing them in another duffel bag.

I grabbed a 9mm pistol, a couple of cartridges and a silencer. I wrapped a thigh holster around my thigh, and slid the pistol into the pocket.

"How the hell are you going to fight in that?" I jumped at the sound of Tobias's voice and turned around to glare at him. "Aren't your pants a little too tight?"

"Staring at my ass again, Eaton?" I turn my attention back to the arsenal and ignore his comment. "It's what I wear on all my missions and they're all successful."

I had on a pair of tight black pants, a tight black long-sleeved shirt with a black fitted zip-up jacket and black boots.

Glancing at Tobias from the corner of my eye, I noticed that he was in all black – black pants, black shoes, and a black fitted shirt.

He started rifling through the pistols, grabbing a glock pistol, three cartridges of ammo and putting the safety on and then hiding it in the waistband of his pants.

"Here." Tobias tosses me an earpiece – the only communication I would have with Christina for awhile. I nod in thanks and then turn my back to him, grabbing the keys to an unmarked black mustang. "I'm driving."

"Why do you get to drive?" I demanded, tossing my bags in the back of the car.

"Because I'm older." He stated matter-of-factly, handing me four knifes. I stared at his hand and then looked back up at him. "What? You're good with handling knifes and if it comes down to it and you're stuck in a situation, it'd be smart to have them on you." He quirks an eyebrow, waiting for me to take the knives.

I take the knifes, watching him carefully. "Did you really just compliment me?" I ask, while sliding the knives into the holsters on my legs.

He shrugs, taking the keys from my hands. "We really are going to need to start being civil with each other if we're going to accomplish this, Tris." He tosses his duffel bag into the back of the car and walks to the driver's side. "We can't argue while trying to save people – it's stupid."

I climbed into the passenger's side, biting my lip, trying to hold back an insult.

The two of us have never really gotten along and I assumed that was why nobody ever assigned us the same mission. So why did Lauren suddenly decide this was a good idea? I mean, it definitely wasn't – one of us would end up hurting the other at one point or another.

"So, Eaton, where are we heading?"

He looked over at me, and then looked straight ahead as he pulled up to the front gate. "Chicago."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

We had been driving for more than seven hours and I was getting restless doing nothing but sitting in the passenger's seat. I had fallen asleep when we first had left the agency, but otherwise I've been wide awake and playing with the radio stations _trying _to find decent music. I had begged Tobias multiple times to let me drive, but he would either ignore me or tell me that his driving, while fast, was still safer than mine.

"That's not fair!" I had exclaimed. "You don't know how good of a driver I am!"

He pried his eyes off of the road and looked at me for a few seconds, turning his attention back to the road. "No, I don't know how good of a driver you are – but I do know the reason we had to have one of the SUVs replaced."

"Okay, so I crashed _one_ car." I put my feet up on the dashboard, crossing my arms over my chest. "But it wasn't my fault!" And it wasn't. I was on a mission, and I was chasing one guy in a car and suddenly, three more cars appeared and smashed into the sides of the car and the back. It resulted in a broken arm and bruised ribs for me, and for the car – death. "Can I please just drive?"

Tobias shakes his head and I groan, turning to look out the window.

Apparently I fell asleep, because when I wake up, it's dark outside and we're in front of a gas station.

"Rest stop, Tris." Tobias shuts off the car and I climb out of the car, gratefully stretching my legs. "And leave the weapons hidden in the car." He eyes my leg and I looked down. I forgot I had on a thigh holster.

Once my weapons were hidden, we headed inside the rest stop and I instantly went for the coffee.

While standing in line, I felt a pair of eyes on my back, instantly making my training kick into gear. I refused to turn around, worried that might give me away. I mean, I could be wrong and it could just be a teenage boy staring at me, but something told me it wasn't – he had followed me into line from the parking lot.

I stepped out of line and walked casually towards the exit. I didn't know where Tobias was, but I didn't want to try to stand up to the guy if I didn't have any of my weapons.

"Shit." I mumbled. The doors were locked and the guy was a few yards behind me – trying to look inconspicuous.

He was a pretty terrible at trailing people.

I made my way to the back of the rest stop and pressed my back up against the brick wall, listening for footsteps and watching the ground for a shadow.

"Tris?" I jumped at the sound of my name and stepped out from around the building. It was Tobias. "Tris, what are you doing? We need to get going."

I looked around, seeing nothing but people climbing sleepily into their cars.

"There…there was someone trailing me." I ran a hand through my hair.

"So you hid?" He quipped and I instantly shot him a glare.

"No! I didn't hide! I was going to wait and see if he was going to continue following me or not." He didn't look convinced.

"I don't want you messing around on this, Tris. Now we really need to get going." I didn't try to push my case any further, knowing he wouldn't believe me. I didn't even really believe me. Maybe I had been hallucinating and just thought I saw the guy following me.

A few hours later, we had arrived in Chicago and I could see Jeanine Matthews' building – it was the tallest, most modern looking one.

I looked over at Tobias and could see dark circles under his eyes. If I hadn't been near him, I would've thought he had gotten into a fight and lost, resulting in two black eyes.

"Tobias, you need sleep." He shakes his head, gripping the steering wheel tightly and rolling the window down so that the cold November air could keep him awake. "You're not going to be of any use if we barge into the offices now and try to save our people. You're not a machine." His body sags slightly, but doesn't argue.

"Fine, a few hours rest." Turning down a road, we head towards a decent looking hotel. "But after that – we're going. We need them out of there before they're used as test monkeys."

We book a single room (with separate beds) and hurriedly carry our personal arsenals up to our rooms.

I decide to take a few hours nap and then wake up to go through our weapons stash. Tobias orders me to wake him up a few hours after I wake up, and then from there, we'll map out a route to Jeanine's office.

Since I had slept in the car a majority of the car ride, I wake up about forty-five minutes later. Tobias was snoring away and I couldn't help but laugh.

I grabbed my bag from the floor and dumped it out onto the bed, rifling through everything I had. I had my pistol, knives, a few cartridges for the pistol, and my favorite gun – it shot out electrical transmitters that would latch onto your victim and shock them, causing their muscles to lock up and freeze, and then the person would collapse and more than likely be unconscious for awhile.

It was pretty badass.

Deciding I was hungry, I ordered some room service – I ordered a simple oriental chicken salad and then decided on getting a hamburger for Tobias. After that, I sat down in the middle of my bed, my legs crossed underneath myself while cleaning the pistol and then loading it.

"Please tell me you ordered food." Tobias sits up, running his hand through his cropped hair and I nod once.

"I ordered you a burger – I hope that's alright?" He stands up, reaching for one of the guns off of my bed.

"That's fine," he unloads the gun and clears it with only four movements and I stare openly at him, mesmerized. "Thanks." I shrug and look back down at my gun, clearing it.

It was silent for a few moments before I finally spoke up. "So how did the great Tobias Eaton join the agency?" I look up at him, his expression full of shock. "What? I can't ask questions? If we're going to be stuck on this mission for, who knows how long, we might as well get to know each other." He lowers himself onto the edge of his bed, the empty gun still in his hand. "I mean, the only thing I really know about you is that you're pretty badass and apparently scary to a lot of people." He laughed, but it was true.

I remember once, when Al and I were training together, Tobias had accidentally knocked someone unconscious and Al watched with a horrified expression and then shuddered.

"What's wrong, Al?" I gave him a swift kick to the ribcage and he winced, trying to grab my ankle.

"Eaton is terrifying." He smirks, trying to play it off, but I saw that he was legitimately terrified of Tobias.

"I just think he's over-compensating." That resulted in a smile and thankfully it ended the conversation. Truth be told, I was kind of scared of him. He was bulky with muscles and always had a pissed-off expression on his face and him knocking another agent out just intensified my fear of him.

Tobias's voice snapped me out of my flashback and back to the hotel room. "I don't really want to talk about my personal life…" He flips the gun over, pretending to examine it.

"Why not?" Absentmindedly, I start packing my weapons away. "I mean, I don't want to pry, but I know that you're not all macho-man and that you don't have a reason for getting that way."

He quirked an eyebrow at me, confused. "Macho-man?" The hint of a smile played at his lips – and it wasn't a sarcastic or cocky smile, it was a genuine smile. It was nice. "What about you?" He asked, surprising me. "How did you get involved in the agency?"

I didn't like how he completely ignored my question, but I would get it out of him some way. "My Dad was involved with the agency and he kind of forced me into it." Shrugging, I twist the bed sheet around my finger.

"So you didn't want to be involved with us but your dad made you?" His voice was laced with confusion and surprise. "But you're one of the best fighters and all your missions are successful." He shakes his head. "I don't get it."

"Well, at first I didn't want to be involved, but then I met Christina and me and her became friends and kind of helped each other through school and all of that. She's my right hand man on all of my missions and I'm mostly successful because of her." I smile.

"So where is your Dad?" He looks over at me and my smile disappears.

A lump forms in my throat and I pinch my thigh to keep from crying. "Uhh, he…he died. He was on a mission and yeah."

When he spoke, he didn't sound sarcastic or rude. "I'm so sorry, Tris." He apologizes and reaches a hand across the small space between the beds to place a hand on my knee. "Did you have any other family?"

I nod. "I have an older brother, but he only calls me and I haven't seen him in years. He was originally in the agency but he left, which was one of the reasons my dad pulled me in, and after he dropped out, he didn't visit much and he doesn't tell me where he's working." This seemed reasonable because he probably thought that if he told me where he worked, I would be angry with him and judge him for dropping from one of the best jobs ever. "And my Mom died a few months after my Dad." Car accident – happened all the time.

I wasn't going to admit that I was actually looking forward to this mission because of possibly getting to get my hands around Jeanine Matthews' throat. She was behind my Father's death and I had wanted to get revenge ever since I found out.

Of course, Lauren had discouraged it but I knew that I would find some way to get to her.

"So what about you?" I quickly changed the subject back to him. "Do I get to hear your personal story now?" He removed his hand from my knee, leaving warmth behind the caused goose bumps to pop up on my arm.

"Well, I wanted to get out of my house and I knew Lauren from childhood, so she helped me out." He sits up straighter, his smile and empathy all gone. He seemed angry.

"Why did you want to get out of your house?"

He took a deep breath. "My father wasn't a…ideal parent." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and kept his gaze on the floor. "He abused my Mother and me."

I gasped loudly, quickly covering my mouth, embarrassed. "Tobias, I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to say. I mean, what else could I say to someone whose own _father _beat him and his mom? That was beyond cruel – it was absolutely disgusting.

Tobias just shakes his head, standing up. "It doesn't matter anymore. I got away from him."

"But it still doesn't explain why you came to the agency," I stand up, stepping in front of him to stop him from turning away from me. "I mean, you could've gone anywhere. You could've joined the military or something, but you join us and become one of the best agents."

His face was still serious, but there was a hint of sadness in his voice. "I wanted to feel strong and feel like I could do something good. I was terrified of becoming like him – like my Father."

There was a knock at the door and then room service rolled into our room. I was thankful for the momentary distraction. I didn't like where our conversation was heading – it was getting a little too personal and I didn't want to deal with that stuff. Not now, anyways.

After we ate, we mapped out a route into the room that was believed to be holding the three agents.

"Do you even know who is being held captive?" I ask, looking at Tobias.

He shakes his head and I sigh, shifting myself so my feet are hanging off the side of the bed.

Tobias takes a deep breath, "Alright, so here's how things are going to go down," he points to the main entrance of the building and moves towards the third floor, "You're going to go inside the building, acting as an intern – the interns usually get sent to the third floor – and then from there, I'll come in the back entrance," he uses his other finger to point to the back of the map, "Then we'll meet up on the fifth floor and find a way to get into the rooms." I nod along, scanning the map, looking to see where Jeanine's office would be.

"After we have them out, we leave – and quickly." He glances at me, waiting for me to agree with him, but I don't. "Tris, what are you planning?"

I make a face at him. "What makes you think I'm planning something?" I ask innocently, bashing my eyelashes at him.

"Don't do anything stupid, Tris." He warns. "We're here for one reason – and that's to get our agents out safely. Don't get yourself killed."

I glare at him, offended. "I'm not going to get myself killed! And I'm not planning anything, Tobias!" He doesn't try to argue further, and I take that as a small victory.

While Tobias packed up the map, I got my duffel bag together, and found an earpiece sitting on the table. I placed it in my ear and turned it on, smiling when I heard the voice speaking.

"Tris!" It was Christina. "You're safe!"

I laugh softly. "We haven't done anything yet, Chris. We're getting ready to leave now."

It was around eight in the morning – the opening time for Jeanine's building and the time when a majority of the employees started showing up, so I wouldn't be standing out in the crowd.

But before I went into the devil's lair, I had to blend in – I mean, wearing a holster that held four knives and two different kinds of pistols along with extra ammo would hardly blend in. So I went into the closest clothing store to the hotel and purchased a black pencil skirt and a midnight blue blouse. But I had a knife sheath to strap to the inside of my thigh, hidden by the knee-length skirt. I still felt vulnerable without at least a pistol on me.

Tobias parked the car a block away and I gripped the door handle.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" He looked at me with a worried expression and I almost laughed at him for being ridiculous – I mean, I was trained for this. I could do this without getting others killed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I reassure him. "Just hurry to the back entrance, I'll make sure the door is opened." I climb out of the car and turn on the earpiece in my ear, Christina's voice coming through so clearly it was like she was standing next to me.

"Let's do this." I could all but hear the cocky smirk in her voice.

* * *

**Author's Note: You guys! I really want to thank you all for the awesome feedback and everything. It means a lot to me and I'm so happy you all liked it. I'm going to try to keep the chapters short, because if I don't, there's too much unnecessary fluff.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"This isn't going to be easy, is it?" I glanced over at Tobias as we walked casually down a long, bright hallway with white tiled floors and white walls.

He shook his head. "No, it's not." I saw his hands clench into fists as we were shoved aside by employees rushing by – some with large coffee cups in their hands, others with tablets pressed to their faces.

"There's a room on your left that's believed to have at least _one _of our agents in it." Christina said into my ear.

I tapped Tobias's arm and we ducked to the left, pressing against the wall as people walked by. "What's the pass code?" I pressed my finger against the earpiece.

She didn't tell me the pass code, but did one better. "The door is unlocked – I hacked into the security server and was able to shut it down. You'll need to hurry up though, there's bound to be security on you guys soon."

Tobias touched the tip of the pistol that was hidden in the waistband of his pants, and nodded once. I opened the door and the quickly slipped in.

As soon as I stepped into the room, I stumbled backwards, and loud gasp escaping my mouth. It was very rare for me to be taken by surprise while on a mission, but the scene in front of me was too…terrible not to be shocked.

The room was completely empty and bare except for the person sitting directly in the center on a single chair. His hands were bound tightly behind him and his ankles were tied tightly to the legs of the chair. The man was hunched over, sweating through his shirt and gasping for air.

"Will?!" I hurried over to him and knelt down in front of him, reaching to untie the ropes from his ankles.

He groaned, and looked up at him through droopy eyelids. He looked like he was in agony. I heard a gasp in my ear and knew Christina heard me. I completely forgot that she could hear me.

Tobias was standing at the door, keeping his face straight. He would nervously glance over at us every now and then again, but otherwise, he kept watch.

I stood up and untied Will's hands and, once he was freed, he fell to the floor, shaking and sobbing. "Jesus, Will. What happened?" I kneeled down in front of him, helping him support himself.

He shook his head, gripping the roots of his damp, sweaty hair.

"Please tell me they didn't inject you…" he shook his head.

"No." His voice was hoarse and scratchy. "They…they injected me with something – a fear serum." I looked up at Tobias, worried, and saw that he was staring at us with a horrified look on his face.

"C'mon," I pull him up into a stand position, pulling one of his arms up over my shoulders and wrapping one of my arms around his waist, holding a majority of his body weight against my side. "We need to get you out of here."

Tobias steps forward, reaching for Will. "I'll take him – you go find the others." I nod once and hand Will over to him.

I start out the door, but Tobias grabs my arm. "Tris, be careful." His face is contorted with exertion from holding up Will, worry over what the hell they injected him with, and…fear for _me_.

I duck out the door and start following the crowd. "Please tell me Eaton's getting Will out of there…" Christina sounded like she was choking.

"Yeah, he's taking him out of the building right now, but Chris, you need to focus. Where are the other two?" A few random people give me weird looks, thinking I'm talking to myself. Ignoring them, I hurry up two flights of steps. "There's an unmarked room with a pass code on the door on the thirty-fourth floor."

I was only on the fifteenth. Great.

Deciding that it would be better to waste a few seconds rather than precious energy, I slide into an elevator right before the doors shut, earning groans and irritated glances from a few people dressed in business casual.

"What floor?" A cold female voice asks. I turn to my left and almost gasp when I see who the voice came from.

"Uhm, thirty-second." Jeanine Matthews nods, smiles and presses the 32 button. Walking up two flights of steps wouldn't kill me, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought that Jeanine knew who I was.

Standing in the small, cramped elevator, so close to the woman who took my Father away from me, who I have wanted to kill since his death, made it difficult to breathe and think rationally. I could so easily reach over and choke her until she passed out. I could put a stop to the mastermind behind the mind-controlling.

But too soon the elevator stopped at my floor, and I allowed myself one last glare at Jeanine – who was smiling at me – as I walked off. As soon as the doors shut, I took off up the steps.

I shoved open the door and stopped dead in my tracks. "Tris, wait…" Christina's voice shouted in my ear, panicked.

The room I was in was all white – white floors, white walls, bright luminescent white lights. There was no one in here except me.

"Tris, there's nobody else in the building…it was only Will…" Christina was still talking in my ear. "Someone knew but…"

"How?" My voice was low, finishing Christina's question.

"Beatrice?" I stiffen at the sound of my name, and turn towards the voice.

It took everything in me not to pass out. I couldn't do that – not right here, not right now. That wasn't the proper way to react in this kind of situation.

"Caleb?" I squinted my eyes, trying to remember the last time I saw him – he had been years. Last time I saw him, he was too lanky for his tall frame, but now he filled out perfectly. His lanky build was gone, replaced now by a semi-muscular one. His short brown hair was now slightly shaggy and curly, resting just above his eyebrows. "Since when have you worn glasses?" I glare accusingly at him.

He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Since I started working here."

I gaped at him. "You _work _here?" My voice was tinged with a hint of disgust and I saw him flinch. Good. "You work for Jeanine Matthews?"

Suddenly, it clicked.

Jeanine played us – of course she did. She would know that we would try to stop her little experiments. She knew we'd send in an undercover agent. But the question was _who told her_? It had to be someone who knew what happened inside the agency, who knew how Lauren would think. Jeanine couldn't get her spies into our building – but she, apparently, knew people who knew what happened inside.

"You told Jeanine!" I screamed at him, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You told her about us! You told her how to trick us!"

I felt beyond betrayed. I felt like Caleb had stabbed me with a rusted knife and just kept twisting it around in my back. I didn't know what to do. Should I leave? Should I cry?

My body reacted faster than my mind, because before I knew it, I was running towards him, my fist extending towards his face and connecting with the side of his nose. A loud, pained wailing sound escaped my throat and I knocked him down. Pinning his arms down with my knees, I raised my right fist again, bringing it down against the side of his face. He tried to turn his head to the side – but that resulted in me punching right near his ear.

Dark red blood oozed from his nose and I felt a sort of sick satisfaction from it. I shouldn't be hitting him – I shouldn't be _hurting _my brother. Not with this being the first time I've seen him in almost six years.

"Beatrice," Caleb tried to wriggle his arms from under my knees, but to no avail. I was trained too well to be thrown off of someone who could barely do more than five push-ups. "Beatrice, stop!" He yelled, his eyes filled with sadness and I felt like my entire upper body was filled with a raging fire, ready to explode. There was a red tint to my vision as I glared at him.

"She killed Dad, Caleb!" I thundered, holding one fist up in the air, ready to punch at a moment's notice. "She is the one who killed Dad, and now you're helping her! You're a traitor! You're a fucking traitor and I hate you! Mom and Dad would despise you!"

I don't know what alerted guards, but there were suddenly two sets of hands pulling me off of him, but that didn't stop me from kicking and screaming every obscene word I could think of at him.

"Peter, Drew, let her go." Caleb ordered, standing up, still holding his bleeding nose.

The two men didn't listen; they just loosened their grip a little. That was their mistake. I yanked my arms away, kicking the red head's knee to the side, causing him to scream in pain and collapse, holding his knee. I reached in my thigh holster and pulled out a knife, holding it out in front of me, threatening the other.

"Beatrice, just listen."

"Don't you dare say anything, you traitor." Glaring at him, I back up towards the door, keeping my knife on the other guard. "You're lucky I don't kill you right here, right now."

Holding back tears, I dart towards the elevator. Thankfully, it's empty.

"Tris…I'm so sorry." Christina is speaking once again in my ear; her voice was strong and comforting.

As soon as I'm in the lobby, I run out of the building and around the block towards where Tobias parked.

I see him sitting in the car, hands on the steering wheel, looking around nervously. Once he saw me, he started up the car and I jumped into the passenger's side, slipping the knife back in my thigh holster, pulling my skirt down to my knees again.

He speeds away from the building and I glance quickly in the back. Will is asleep on the seat, still sweating, but with a different shirt – one that's one size too big. Probably Tobias's.

"What took you so long?" His face dropped. "What happened to the other two?"

I shook my head, trying to steady my shaky voice – I still felt like exploding into tears. I pulled my feet up onto the seat, wrapping my arms around my legs.

"There wasn't anybody in there." I lowered my voice. "It was a trick."

His hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. "We need to get back to the academy." His eyes flicker to the rearview mirror, studying Will. "But we should probably get him to a hospital."

We pull up to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Tobias helped Will inside while I waited in the car. We weren't going to leave until Will was dismissed from the hospital – and by my estimation, Christina would be on her way to Chicago by now; I didn't know though, seeing as I ripped the ear piece out of my ear as soon as I got back into the car.

Tobias came back out, sighing as he shut the car door. We sat in silence – both of us looking straight ahead. "Are you going to tell me what actually happened in there?" He finally spoke up, looking over at him.

I shook my head.

"Damn it, Tris!" He turned his whole body towards me, leaning forward so that there wasn't much space between us. "Tell me what the hell happened."

I tangled my fingers together, squeezing them so tightly the tips of my fingers started to turn red. "My brother…" My head hung low, and I could feel my lips trembling.

"What about him, Tris?" He started to sound angry, his voice become irritated.

I took a deep, shaky breath. "My brother was the one who had Jeanine trick us." My eyes flickered over to him, studying his reaction. I felt cold all over, the realization sinking in that I now lost every member of my family. I would think of Caleb as dead – that's all he was now; dead. Better to think of him as gone than a traitor, aiding the woman who killed our father.

His back straightened out momentarily and then he looked at me, pity filling his eyes.

"Don't look at me like, Tobias." I turned to face the front again.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a kicked dog." I snapped at him. "He's not my brother anymore, it doesn't matter. He's a traitor and that's all he'll ever be."

He shook his head, leaning towards me, gripping under my chin; he turned my face towards his. "He is still your brother, Tris. As much as you may want to break family ties – you can't. It's impossible." His voice broke. "Trust me, I know." I glance at his hand and then back up at him.

I shake my head. "She killed him…" I cried. "Jeanine…she killed my father. And now Caleb's helping her!" I felt my whole body shake with tears. Tobias's hand dropped from my face and he gazed at me, shocked.

Nobody's ever seen me cry – except Christina when she came with me to both my parents' funerals. Except, I had bottled everything up until afterwards when we were in our room. Then everything came pouring out of me like a pipe that was clogged for too long, the water pressing against it, begging to be released. She hadn't judged me or looked at me with pity. She had just been there for me.

Tobias was different. There was only a small amount of pity in his eyes. He knew I was strong – he's seen what I can do.

I rub my face with the palms of both my hands, angrily wiping away the tears. "I hate him…" I mumbled.

"No, Tris, no you don't." He sounds so sure of himself; I suddenly feel a flare of earlier anger come back. I suddenly really want to hit him. He grips both my wrists with his hands and I try to pull away.

"Yes I do!" My voice shakes with anger as I try tugging away from his grip. "I hate him and I'm going to kill him when I go to kill Jeanine!" I'm too angry to realize my mistake until his hands fall to the console between us. At that point, I just stare at him, mouth hanging open, suddenly realizing how stupid I was to say that. "Tobias…"

His shock snaps and suddenly he's angry. "Tris, you are not going to kill her!" He booms, causing me to jump back, my back hitting the door handle. "You're being stupid." I flinch. "I'm not going to let you get yourself killed because of some stupid revenge plan." His eyes were intense, his jaw taut.

"She killed my Dad, Tobias! I'm not just going to let that go!"

"Oh yes you the hell are!" Clenching his hands, he leaned backwards, still glaring at me. "You are not going to go into Jeanine Matthews's building, expecting to kill her. You saw how difficult it was to look for Will. You think it'll be any easier to get to _Jeanine_ in _her own building_?"

Okay, I felt stupid – beyond stupid. I was letting rage and frustration blind my common sense.

I slumped back into the seat, gripping the roots of my hair. The car starts up, and Tobias backs out of the parking lot.

His knuckles are once again white against the steering wheel and his eyebrows are furrowed, creating a dent between them – if I wasn't so confused with how I felt right now, I would've laughed at how ridiculous he looked.

When we arrived back at the hotel, Tobias went to the front desk to pay for a few more nights here, while I headed back up to the room, waiting out front for him to come up with the keycard.

Once we were in the hotel, I started going through my bag, putting my knives in the bag and grabbed the pistol that can shock people. I disappear into the bathroom to change out of the disguise and into the clothes I first arrived in.

When I opened the door, Tobias was standing in front of it, his arms crossed over his chest. "What are you doing, Tris?" He glances down at my outfit and the gun resting in my holster. "You're not leaving this hotel – I won't allow it."

"You're not the boss of me." I try to shove past him, but he's built like a damn brick wall. "Tobias, let me through." I demand.

He shakes his head, taking a step forward so that he's in the doorway. "You're not going to do this. It's too dangerous and way too stupid for someone who's as smart as you." He holds one hand out, nodding towards my gun. "Give me the gun, Tris. Now."

"No!" I take a step back, my hip hitting the corner of the sink. "I'm not going to kill Jeanine, I promise! I just…"

"Just what? You're just going to go kill your _brother_?" He sneered, taking another step forward. That one step opened up the bathroom door and I used that as my chance to run by him – thankful for my short stature – by ducking under his arm.

Despite my speed, Tobias was still able to grab hold of my arm, yanking me backwards and pinning me against the wall next to the bathroom door. He had one arm across my chest, keeping me from running. "Let me go!" I shouted, trying to wriggle free of his hold, but he just pressed me harder against the wall. "Tobias, let me go! I want to hurt him! I want to hurt him!" I cried loudly, angry tears falling from my eyes.

He sighed loudly, pulling me from the wall and then pinned me down on the floor, his hands gripping my wrists tightly, holding them against the carpet.

"Tris! Calm down!" He barked. I stopped yelling and fighting his grip, my body completely going numb, but his grip still remained tightly bound. "You cannot go back there! They'll be expecting you and who knows what they'll try to do to you!"

I felt cold all over, except for a small, angry fire that still burned in my chest. It wouldn't be put out until I hurt Caleb for betraying our family. The anger I felt for him was completely different than the one I felt for Jeanine – yes, she killed my Father and I still wanted to kill her for it, but what Caleb did was far worse in my eyes. He helped her kill him and helped her with a serum that could possibly destroy the city of Chicago.

"I'm going to let you up now," he speaks slowly, enunciating the word 'slowly', like I was a child. "Can I trust you not to run?"

I nodded and took a deep breath as Tobias sat back on his knees. I pushed myself into a sitting position, pulling my legs into my chest and resting my forehead on the top of my knees. "What the hell is wrong with me?" I whisper, more to myself than to Tobias.

"You're angry and you just want to hurt someone – I know the feeling." Tobias rests his warm hand on my arm and I look up at him. "After I had been in the agency or awhile…I went back home to see my Father," he closes his eyes, trying to calm himself, "and I ended up taking out all of my pent up anger on him – anger from hurting me and my mom; anger from him making me hate myself as a child…" His voice trailed off and he grabbed my right hand, holding it close to his face. "You're bleeding."

"What?" I pull my hand away, looking at my knuckles. Huh – I was. My knuckles were bruising and there was a large cut on one of them, with drying blood surrounding it. "I didn't realize that…"

He stands up, going into the bathroom and coming back out with a small glass bowl filled with water and a small towel. "Give me your hand." I comply and he dips the edge of the towel into the water and dabs it on my bloodied knuckles. I gasp as the hot water burns my cut, and I instantly grab his hand. "Sorry."

If he didn't look so serious and sound sincere, I would've expected to see him smirk.

"I'm sorry about your Dad…" I mumble, staring at my hands.

He stops dabbing at my now-clean knuckles and looks at me, still holding onto my hand. "Don't be," he says while shaking his head, "It helped me get to where I am today." A small smirk tugs at the side of his mouth and his dark blue eyes look brighter.

"You know, I think this is the first civil conversation we've ever had." I joke, smiling at him.

He laughs and nods, "I'm going to have to agree with you on that." He helps me stand up and then places the dirty towel and water in the bathroom again. "Now get some sleep," he orders, coming back out of the bathroom. "We have a long drive tomorrow."

There was a knock at the door and I went over to open it.

Christina was standing in the doorway, her face panicked, and breathing heavy like she had been running. "Are you okay, Chris?"

Tobias came to stand beside me and glanced out the door nervously.

She shook her head. "It's Will…"

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. He's in the hospital but he'll be okay."

She shook her head again, furiously this time. "No, he won't be okay!" She shouted; eyes wild and bright. "He went back to Jeanine's office." I gasped and felt Tobias stiffen beside me. "He wants to kill her himself."

I looked up at Tobias. "Seems like I'm not the one you have to worry about now."

* * *

**This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would, but I just got really excited and couldn't stop writing. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to leave a review! Any type of feedback is helpful.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Christina sat in the back of the car, I was in the passenger's seat and of course – Tobias drove. Christina was going over what had happened since she arrived in Chicago.

She had used a company jet to fly from Washington D.C. to Chicago – which explains how she got there so much quicker than when we drove – and from there, she had taken a taxi to the hospital, and upon arrival, ran into Will.

"He wasn't himself," she shook her head, frowning. "He was mumbled about wanting to kill Jeanine. He wanted to hurt her." She looked up at me, her caramel brown eyes bright and innocent. "I tried to stop him, Tris, I really did – but it was like he couldn't even hear me. I mean, he _saw _me, but…" I nodded, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Tobias made a quick turn into the building's parking lot and jumping out as soon as the car was off.

"Wait! Tobias!" I called, running to catch up with him. I grabbed his arm, tightening my grip on it trying to hold him back. "We can't just barge in there! They'll notice us and call security right away!"

He shakes his head, prying my hand off his arm. "With what Will is about to do – it's better that _we _get a hold of him before security."

Christina is standing outside of the car, her arms crossed across her chest. "What am I supposed to do?" I look around and then quickly hand her the electrical pistol.

"You," I smirk. "Are going to be our back-up." She looks nervously down at the gun and I chuckle. "Don't worry – it's nonlethal. The most it'll do is knock someone unconscious for a few hours."

"Tris, Christina! Let's go!" Tobias barks and we follow.

Once we get into the building, we receive shocked gasps from employees – a few even scream. Honestly, if I saw three people with guns walking into a building, I would've been asking where the hell security was when you needed them.

Tobias walks up to the front desk where a middle-aged, balding man is typing away at his computer, ignoring the three of us. "Where's Jeanine Matthews's office." He demands, slamming his fist down on the blue marbled counter.

The guy glances up and then looks back down at his computer.

"Move." I shove Tobias aside and grab the guy by his tie, his eyes widening in fear. "Tell us where Jeanine Matthews's office is before I kill you." My voice is low and hard – and apparently it was threatening enough because he gave us the top floor number.

"Tris," Tobias whispers to me once we're in the elevator (everyone ran out as soon as they saw us). "If we find him and he's with Jeanine…" he gives me a warning look. "Don't try anything stupid. Please." I nod and step off as we arrive on the correct floor.

"Will!" Christina screams, trying to run to him, but I grab her arm and pull her back.

Will is standing in front of two guards – Peter and Drew, the two who had grabbed me earlier with my brother in the room. I glare at them.

"Let him go and we'll leave peacefully." Tobias speaks up, stepping in front of us – almost as if he was shielding us.

"No can do," the red-head spoke up, smiling ruefully at us – at me. "He had intentions to kill Jeanine therefore we must take immediate action." He raises his gun to Will's head and I lunge. I smack the gun away, my palm stinging with the hit. He stumbles backwards and then quickly regains his balance. "Well, if it isn't Caleb Prior's baby sister." He smirks, holding up his hands to block his face. "You gave him a nice beating this morning – can't say I felt bad, but I couldn't let you kill him. Jeanine needs him."

The earlier red tint poisoned my vision again and I was tackling him down to the floor, slamming his head against the white carpet. I balled my fist and punched his throat, his body bucking upwards trying to throw me off to catch his breath.

I heard grunts behind me and Christina screaming for Will to run, but I was too focused on letting my earlier pent up anger out on this red-headed asshole.

Hitting him square in the nose, he screamed in pain, throwing his fist upwards towards my face, hitting my jaw causing me to fall backwards. He quickly recovered from my punch and was on top of me, his hands wrapped around my throat. I used my forearm to hit his elbows, effectively bending them, allowing me to bring my knee up towards his gut and shove him off of me.

I was instantly back on my feet, feeling dizzy from the burst of air that filled my lungs.

He spit red blood on the floor and I cocked a smirk in satisfaction. "You're wasting all your hate on me when you could be wasting it on your brother." He retorts.

"Don't talk about him." I growled. I slowly reached into the back waistband of my bottoms, gripping the hilt of my gun. Glancing behind me, I see that Tobias is pulling the unconscious guy towards the wall and Christina is holding an unconscious Will in her arms, stroking his hair.

Turning my attention back to my fight, I saw that the red-head was smirking. "I should probably mention that it was your brother who gave your friend over there the fear serum. It was his idea, hoping it would result in answers from him."

I pulled the gun from my bottoms, holding it in front of me with two steady hands, pointing it directly at his heart. "Say one more word and I'll shoot you," I yell at him. "I'll kill you right here, I swear to – "

"Tris…" Tobias's voice is near my left shoulder, his hand reaching out to push my arm down. "Put the gun down, Tris. It won't do any good." He looks over his shoulder and I now realize that there are about twenty more uniformed guards standing in the room. Christina is being held by both arms and someone is holding Will's unconscious body up by his arms.

"Tobias…" I groan.

He puts a warm hand on my shoulder, shaking his head. I lower my gun, glaring at the red-headed asshole. He's smirking and reaches forward to take my gun, but not before I pull the trigger, successfully hitting his shoulder.

He screams in pain, falling to his knees while clutching his injured arm. His gun goes off, a bullet grazing my right arm.

I stumble sideways towards Tobias, who grabs me tightly and pulls me away from the screaming guard.

"Peter!" A familiar voice shouts and I freeze, gripping my right arm. "Don't shoot her!"

Caleb pushed back several guards, coming to stand in front of myself and Tobias. I grabbed Tobias's arm tightly, using him to keep myself from attacking Caleb.

"Why do you care?" He spits through clenched teeth, pushing himself to a standing position. "She beat the shit out of you!" Caleb turns towards me, and Tobias gasps. He had a large cut along his mouth, there's a bruise starting to show along the right-side of his jaw and his nose looks swollen.

"She's my sister." Tobias squeezes my shoulder lightly.

"What is the meaning of all this?" A middle-aged woman with graying blonde hair storms into the room, wearing a tight blue skirt and blue blazer. She glares at me and it sends a cold shiver down my spine. "You." She nods towards me. "You look familiar."

Jeanine glances between Caleb and me and then smiles. "Beatrice Prior – it's so nice to finally meet you." She steps towards me, blocking me from Caleb and Peter. "I mean, we met earlier when you snuck into my building to rescue your…unconscious friend. Not a very smart choice on your part." I shrug, wincing as a sharp pain shoots through my right arm. Even a bullet graze hurts like hell.

"When someone's trying to brainwash a friend – I don't think, I just do." I flash her a grimace and her top lip twitches.

She peers over my shoulder, to the guards in the back. "Take them to the holding cells – they'll come in use later." Four guards descend upon me and Tobias and I try to fight off the guards, kicking my legs and reaching for Jeanine – trying to rake my fingers down her face.

Eventually they secure me and they're pulling the four of us out the door and down the hall.

We're thrown into a single room with gray floors and white tiled walls. There are two dark brown wooden chairs against the furthest wall and a camera in the corner by the door. The guards holding Will drop him to the floor and Christina screams at them to be careful as she drops to her knees in front of him.

Tobias slumps into one of the chairs and I sit against a wall, pulling my legs into my chest. He glances over at me and then at my arm. "Were you shot?" He asks, lifting his head up off the wall.

"What? Oh," I look at my arm. "It didn't go in, it just grazed my arm." He shoves himself off his chair and stomps over to the door.

"Hey!" He calls out the small opening at the top of the door. "We need a medical kit – she was shot." Tobias bangs on the cell door and a guard appears, glaring through the slot. "Hey, guard! She needs help or else she's going to bleed out too much." He points towards me.

The guard disappears and then comes back a few minutes later with a small first-aid kit. Tobias throws him a glare and starts back towards me.

Bending down, he flips open the kit and pulls out a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide and wets a small thing of gauze, wiping it across the bullet graze. I hiss, clutching my pants tightly, the peroxide stinging.

"Sorry." Tobias apologizes and then takes some clean gauze and wraps it tightly around the wound, tying it securely. I give him a small, sleepy smile. He shuts the kit and reaches his hand up, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind my ear. "You need to sleep, Tris. You haven't slept in over a day." I shake my head, glancing over at Will and Christina.

Will was finally starting to come to, and Christina was trying to calm him down – he kept mumbling about strangling Jeanine.

Honestly, I would most likely be right behind him, helping him with it – she deserved it after throwing us in this room like we were prisoners.

The door swung open and we all jumped, Tobias standing up instantly, stepping in front of me.

There was a man standing in the door, a smug smile on his face. He had dark black dreadlocks and multiple piercings in his eyebrows and ears. He looked freaky. "You," he pointed at Will. "Come with me." He began to turn his back, but thought twice about it and a wider smile crept over his face. "And say your goodbyes."

"Goodbyes?" Christina squeaked. "What the hell do you mean 'goodbye'?"

He steps into the room and I think about trying to run past him, but I couldn't leave everyone else behind. "He attempted to kill Jeanine – he's being sentenced to death."

Christina shoots up, still holding Will's hand tightly. "You can't do that! You don't have any fucking say in that! That can't be legal!" She shouts at him, her face turning light brown face turning reddish and tears falling down her cheeks. "Fuck off!" She screams.

"Damn it Eric," another guard steps into the room, "What is taking so damn long?" He glances at Christina standing in front of Will and groans. "We can just drag him – Jeanine said she doesn't care how we get him and long as he's out of this room."

I make a sound of disgust and Tobias glances down at me, shaking his head.

Eric and the other guard start to walk towards Will, but Christina is shaking her head, crying and screaming at them to stay away from him and take her instead. Will was trying desperately to pull her down towards the floor and kept telling her to be quiet.

"Christina…" I stand up carefully, trying not to move my bad arm too much. I walk towards her and grab her arm, tugging her away from the scene.

"Tris, let me go!" She tries to tug her arm back, but she's not as strong as me. She hasn't trained for years in combat – she's been in computers. "Just please let me say goodbye to him…" She begged through tears. I glanced at Tobias who just shrugged; his face emotionless.

I loosened my grip and she broke free of my grasp, running towards Will. He caught her in his arms and hugged her tightly, pressing his lips to the top of her head. She pulled back a little so that she could reach up and press her lips to his.

Looking away, I stepped back towards the wall – away from Christina and Will and away from the guards. The one with the dreadlocks kept glaring at Tobias and then glancing at me with a mischievous smile on his face.

Finally, Eric spoke up, "Alright, let's go." He yanked Will away from Christina and she stumbled backwards. I caught her, wrapping my arms around her as she began to scream and cry again. She kept cussing at Eric and threatening to rip him to shreds if he hurt Will.

I shushed her, trying to soothe her and calm her down. I sat down, pulling her with me. She leaned backwards, uncontrollably sobbing. I held her tightly, trying to hold back my own tears.

This wasn't fair – this wasn't how this was supposed to happen.

We were supposed to _save _Will and get him home – him and Christina were supposed to be together. This wasn't what I had planned at all.

The door slammed shut and Christina's whole body went limp and she dug her face into my side, crying. I look up at Tobias and his face his red, he keeps clenching his jaw and his hands are balled in tight fists.

"Tobias…" I start to slide Christina to the mall, trying to get her off of me. "Tobias…stay calm." Christina slides to the side, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy.

"Stay calm?" A hysterical laugh bubbles over and he's glaring at me. "How can I stay calm?! They just killed one of our agents! We were supposed to save him, Tris!" I grab his arm and I can feel that he's trembling – like he's trying as hard as he can to hold himself back from punching someone.

"Tobias, we did everything we could." I spoke calmly, hoping it would rub off on him. "He made the choice to come back here. We did save him – he made a different choice."

The trembling stopped but his breathing was heavy. I moved my hand down his arm and to his hand, gripping it tightly. "Tobias – you saved him." My voice was low so that only the two of us could hear it. I didn't want Christina to hear us talking about Will; I didn't want her to get upset again.

His long, warm fingers laced through mine and he turned to look at me. "I'm so sorry, Tris." The door opened again, and Eric was standing in the doorway, that same mischievous smile on his lips.

"You," he pointed at me, "come with me."

Tobias shook his head, shoving me behind him. "Over my dead body, fuckface." Eric laughed and stepped forward, his hand resting on his gun.

I tried to push Tobias away, but he wouldn't let me. "Tobias, don't be stupid." I murmured. "I'll go with him." He turns to face me, his dark blue eyes angry. "They're not going to kill me." I had a hard time believing my own words, but I didn't want Tobias to get in anymore trouble.

"Prior – now." Eric ordered, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Tobias.

As soon as the door shut behind us, there was a loud banging on it and I bit my lip to stop from crying.

"Where are you taking me?" Eric's hands gripped my wrists tightly behind my back and pushed my forward. "Tell me where you're taking me!" I demanded, yanking my arms out of his grip.

He grabbed my wrists and pinned them behind my back again. "Jeanine Matthews requires your presence."

I shake my head, trying to pull away from him again. "I am not going anywhere near her!"

Eric shoves me into a room and shuts the door behind me.

The room is like the one where Tobias, Christina and I were in – except this one was smaller and had a single chair, which was occupied by Jeanine.

She was wearing a blue pantsuit and her graying blonde hair was pulled into a neat bun.

I glared at her, pressing my back against the door, trying to get as far away from her as possible. "What the hell do you want?" I growled.

She smiled, standing up. I noticed now that she held a small, long brown box in her left hand. My hands started to shake. "Well, Beatrice, I noticed how well your friend had reacted to the serum that I gave him, but he only had about seven or eight constant fears." She opened the box, revealing a syringe filled with an orange liquid. "So I wanted to see if that was because of his training in your agency and if you all have few fears."

I shook my head. "Don't do this…" I begged, feeling sick to my stomach begging her. "If you do this…I will kill you with my bare hands." She laughed at my threat – my shaky voice ruining the ominous tone.

"Oh, Beatrice," there's fake empathy in her tone and I suddenly want to rake my fingers down her face until she bleeds. She steps forward and I feel a pinch in the side of my neck as she pushes the plunger down, releasing the orange fluid into my neck.

I try to shove her away, but my arms are weak and the room is spinning. She steps away from me and the gray floor seems to be rushing up towards me.

I throw my arms out in front of me, breaking my fall. The wind gets knocked out of me and I lay on my stomach, my right cheek pressed against the cold floor.

Jeanine lets out a taunting "Let's see how tough you are now." And the leaves, shutting the door behind her.

The last thing I remember is blackness creeping into my vision and I'm lying on the floor, trying to fight it off, but it's too strong and too fast for me. It surrounds me like a giant smoke cloud, pulling me under.

* * *

**I am so grateful for all of the feedback I've been getting from some of you and I appreciate it so much. I'm going to try to update as much as I can, but school's starting and I'm working so I'm going to be busy. But I'll still try to update at least once a week. **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

When I woke up, I expected to feel cold from lying on the floor for what felt like hours – but instead, I feel the soft tickle of grass and a light breeze passing through my hair. I smell the fresh scent of the grass mixed in with the earthy smell of dirt.

I stood up, looking around. I was standing outside the city limits, surrounded by tall, dying bushes and a small lake.

Suddenly, the bushes burst into flames and I stumbled backwards, tripping in mud. I fell backwards, landing on my back. The bright blue sky darkens with a single, large black cloud.

The cloud suddenly started to fall towards the ground but – but, it _wasn't _a cloud. It was a giant swarm of black crows. I started to use my elbows to scoot backwards to try and escape the swarm of crows, but it didn't help.

Clusters of crows started to break away from the swarm and swoop downwards, right towards me. Their beaks start to peck at my skin, my face and I started to scream. I screamed until my throat felt sore – and even then I continued to scream. I kicked and swatted the crows away but it didn't help, there were too many.

_This isn't real. It is not real! _

A small voice was screaming at me from somewhere in the back of my head and reminding me that this wasn't real. I was on a cold floor somewhere in Jeanine Matthews's building – she had injected me with a serum.

This wasn't real.

Still trying to stop the crows from clawing at my skin and face, I drag myself towards the small pond. Taking a deep breath, I dive straight into the pond.

The pond expands, opening up to the size of a lake as I swim further down. I need fresh air but I can't swim back up – if I do, the crows will just attack again. I start to feel light headed and out of breath, but I keep swimming down. I keep swimming until it's completely black.

I gag on my own breath as I make myself sit up off the cold, white tiled floor. I wrap my arms around my legs and can see that my hands are visibly shaking. I squeeze my arms with my hands, trying to stop the shaking. I feel like my entire body is still covered in crows – but there are none. There are no crows and no cuts or scratches.

"It wasn't real…" I mumble to myself.

My entire body trembles, but I grin with satisfaction. Jeanine tried to scare me – she didn't. She can't scare me.

I don't know how long I'm in the room – but every now and then someone comes in, injects me with the same serum, I go through weird dreams of some different fear. But the odd thing is, there are only six of them.

It's the same ones, over and over.

Finally gaining a sense of time, I realize it's been six days since I've been in this room. I receive two meals a day – very small portions (normally a cheese sandwich and water) – and then I'm injected with the serum.

I don't know how long I'm out, but it's not long because whenever I wake up, I still taste food in my mouth and its hours before someone comes to check on me again.

One day, after I'm injected, I fall into the terrors and I'm back at the agency in the training room.

Tobias and I are squaring off and a smile plays at my lips. He tries to throw a punch towards my face, and I quickly duck under his arm, grabbing it and tossing him over my hip. "C'mon Eaton, you gotta be quicker than that."

He stands up, glaring at me. Only then do I realize that his normally bright blue eyes, are dark – so close to black it's scary. He isn't playing with me or practicing – he's trying to kill me.

"Tobias, stop!" I yell, taking a foot to the ribcage. I collapse on the mats, coughing and clutching my side. "Stop!" I scream, tears pricking behind my eyes.

A gun is suddenly in his hand and he's pinning me to floor, the gun pressed to my forehead. "Tobias, please don't!" I beg. "Don't do this!" His fingers on the trigger and he's shaking with anger. "Please…" A tear falls down my cheek and I place my hands on his shoulders, gripping tightly. "Tobias…"

I wake up in tears, Jeanine Matthews standing in front of the door. Her hands are balled in fists and she's glaring at me with rage filled eyes. I smirk.

"How are you breaking out of them?!" She screams, stepping towards me. Two guards appear behind her from the doorway, wielding guns. "It's impossible!" She grabs my hair and yanks me to my feet.

"You can't scare me." I can't help but feel incredibly smug. "It won't work."

"Caleb Prior helped develop these!" She smirks, obviously thinking that would hurt me. Okay, it did – only a little. But I didn't let that show. "It _has _to work!"

I shake my head. "Obviously he's not as smart as you thought he was." I remark. Her eyes narrow and she shoves me away.

"Take her back to the others." She orders the guards, turning to face them. They nod. "And bring Eaton in."

A burst of anger suddenly flares up inside of me and I'm rushing towards her, grabbing the back of her jacket and yanking her backwards. She stumbles and starts to choke, but the guards are on me in seconds, pulling me away.

"Don't you dare hurt anybody else, you psychotic bitch!" I scream at her, kicking my legs as the guards pull me down the hall. "Don't hurt him!"

Two guards are already walking down the hall with Tobias between them, his head hanging low like he's given up.

He hears me screaming and suddenly perks up, his eyes zooming in on me. "Tris!" His voice is tired but flooded with relief. He tries to yank free of the guards, but apparently he's become as weak as me because they're able to hold him back.

We're dragged past each other and he cranes his neck trying to watch me. As soon as he's in the same room I was, I start to scream again, begging to let me go.

"Don't you dare hurt him you psycho bitch!" I screamed down towards Jeanine. I knew she heard me, but she didn't react.

The guards shoved me back into the room we were first put in, and Christina runs to me, hugging me tightly.

"Oh my God, Tris! Are you okay?" She steps back, examining me.

I shake my head. "Yeah, no, I'm fi-fine." I really wasn't. The last nightmare still made my hands shake and seeing Tobias being thrown into the room made things worse. He was going to be tortured and I didn't want that.

He didn't need to be tortured. I could only imagine what kind of things he feared.

"They wouldn't tell me anything about you," Christina is still talking when I walk towards a wall and slide down to the floor. "They just ignored me or smirked. I really want to strangle them for that." She glowers at the floor. "Tobias kept trying to order a guard to let him trade places with you…"

I looked up at her, a questioning look on my face. "He did _what_?"

She nodded, eyebrows pulling together. "Tris – he wouldn't stop screaming to let you go. He really cares about you."

I feel my face get hotter, so I duck my head down, wiping dirt off my pants. "It's because he knows Lauren will be pissed if we get back and I'm not there." I shrug. "That's it – it's just a…business thing."

Christina shakes her head, moving so that she's sitting on the side of me. "It's more than that, Tris." She reaches for my hand. "He cares about you in the way that…Will," she stuttered over his name, her voice catching. "in the way that Will cared for me."

"Christina…I can't." I rub my sweaty palms against my legs. I can't do that to him. I don't want to be in a…relationship. Not right now. I was such a wreck – no one could possibly find that attractive. My parents were gone; my brother is helping a psychotic woman try to control the minds of the citizens of Chicago – he might as well be dead.

I've never been in a relationship; my whole life has been focused on the agency and trying to get revenge for my Dad.

Right now, I was just trying to figure out how to get Christina and Tobias out of here alive.

Christina shakes her head, leaning back up against the wall. "I talked to him about it – to Tobias. I asked him if he would ever consider asking you out on a date or something when we get out." I peek at her out of the corner of my eye, a light fluttering in my stomach. "He said he didn't care as long as we got you out of here alive."

I smiled slightly, hiding my face with my hair.

The door suddenly swung open, and Caleb walked in with Tobias's arm over his shoulder.

I jumped up, running towards Caleb and shoving him as hard as I could. "What the hell are you doing with him?!" I shoved Caleb away from Tobias, but Caleb just elbowed me away. I glared at him.

"I saved him – for you. Now you guys need to get going if you want to make it out of here before Jeanine realizes what's going on." I stared at him, confused.

"What? How?" He started dragging Tobias out of the room and Christina and I quickly followed him.

We made a left turn and pushed through a set of doors, heading down a flight of concrete steps. "When Jeanine went in to watch your last…her last experiment on you, I disabled the cameras and then quickly switched out the nightmare serum with just a plain sleep serum." He groans, pulling Tobias's arm up higher over his shoulder. "I was hoping you would still be in the room, but I'd still help no matter who it was."

Christina grabs my arm, almost tripping over her feet. "Don't get offended if I have trouble trusting you again." I remark, glaring at him.

He shrugs, shoving open a door with his shoulder. Bright sunlight flows in and I have to squint to see him properly. "I understand completely, Beatrice. I know that no matter what I do, you'll never forgive me…Mom and Dad will never forgive me."

I swallow hard, fighting back tears.

"Now's not the time for make-ups," Christina butted in. "We need to get away from the building now."

Nodding, we hurry off up the alleyway. We come to a stop at the end, pressing up against the wall. "Caleb, you can't come with us…" Tobias starts to groan and I reach out, taking his arm from Caleb. "The agency would lock you up as soon as you step foot into the building."

It was true – they already knew he had been helping Jeanine. It'd actually be a miracle if he even made it to the building's prison before someone got hold of him and tried to kill him themselves.

He shakes his head. "Beatrice, I can't go back to Jeanine's!" He exclaims, his breathing heavy. "They'll have me locked up and start experimenting on me…" My lip twitches as his voice trails off, my expression apparently scaring him. "You know what I mean." Caleb looks up towards the blue, cloudless sky and sighs. "I'm a traitor to everyone."

Tobias suddenly stands up, looking around. "What's going on?" He blinks at the sunlight and then quickly looks at me, panic striking across his face. "How are we outside?"

Christina clears her throat and he turns towards her and then sees Caleb. Seconds later, his fist connects with Caleb's nose and blood spurts out.

"Tobias, stop!" I scream, grabbing his wrist and pulling it back. "Tobias, he helped us get out of there! He saved you!" I force him to look at him, his glare softening as soon as he looked at me.

His body visibly relaxed and he took a deep, steady breath. "Tris – you're safe." I nod.

"Yes, but we won't be safe for much longer if we don't get out of here soon."

Caleb was keeping his head tilted backwards, trying to keep the blood from pouring down the front of his shirt.

"Let's go." Christina steps out of the alley and we follow her. Caleb's still holding his nose and Tobias stays close to me, separating me from Caleb.

As soon as we were a safe distance from Jeanine's building, we got a taxi and headed back to our hotel. Christina and Caleb waiting in the lobby while Tobias and I hurried up to our room to grab our bags. From there, we would be leaving to head back to D.C. and then…I didn't know what would happen.

Tobias and I had been packing our packs quietly, not knowing what to say. I didn't want to ask Tobias about what they put him through – I was still trying to get over what happened to me, even when I was able to tell that it was fake.

"Are you okay, Tris?" Tobias looks up at me, zipping his bag. "Like, _really_ okay?"

I shrug. "I don't know." Running a hand through my hair, I sit down on the edge of the bed. "My brother _helped _the woman, who murdered my father, create a weapon to hurt anyone and everyone and then he helped us escape from, more than likely, death." I shake my head, Tobias coming to squat down in front of me. "My best friend's boyfriend was murdered and I had to live through my nightmares time and time again." A slightly hysterical laugh falls from my lips and suddenly I'm crying. "I'm a complete mess."

Tobias shakes his head, gripping both my hands together in his. "Tris, you're not a mess. You're nineteen and have had to deal with death and loss and more physical pain than most normal nineteen year old." I wait to hear him laugh and call me weak and pathetic, but he doesn't. "You're so strong."

I shake my head, sniffling.

"You're way stronger than I give you credit for." He admits, letting go of my hands. I wipe my tears away with the palm of my hand.

"Then why did you offer to take my place back in Jeanine's building?" My voice, which was shaky and hysterical before, is suddenly serious and irritated. I mean, yeah, it was nice of him to offer himself up and I would've done the same in his place – but did he think I was too weak to handle it?

His back straightens, ramrod straight, and he pushes himself up into a standing position. "That wasn't about that…"

Shaking my head, I stand up, trying to be face-to-face with him (which was hard when I was considerably shorter than him). "Bullshit. That is bullshit, Tobias!" I shout. "You think I'm weak and you didn't want Lauren yelling at you for not helping me."

"Tris…stop." His jaw clenches tightly and he turns his back to me, heading to get his bag.

I grab his arm, stopping him. "No! You stop it, Tobias! Stop lying to me!"

He spins so fast, I'm surprised he didn't get dizzy – I did. He's in my face and his eyes are bright and filled with either passion or anger – it was hard to tell. "I am not lying to you, Tris! I didn't sacrifice myself for your sake because I thought you were a weak child! I did it because…" He stops himself and looks down at the floor for a moment, before looking back up at me, his expression much softer than seconds ago. "I did it because it was the right thing to do."

Saying no more, he grabs his bag and mine and starts towards the door. I follow behind him, going over what he said in my head.

Was Christina right and he actually _did _care about me in a romantic way? Was that what he was going to say before he stopped himself?

I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going, I was just following behind Tobias, and so I was surprised to see that we were already outside in front of the hotel, waiting for a cab.

Christina and Caleb were standing in between me and Tobias. I sighed and climbed into the back of the yellow van that pulled up in front of us.

We were heading to a small, private airport where a company jet was waiting for us. Christina had been able to call in a favor to a friend of ours, and they had graciously flown out to take us back.

I mean, it would be pretty damn difficult to get through airport security with two bags full of highly-advanced weapons that even some government officials can't get their hands on. Not saying that we _couldn't _get through, I'm just saying it would take a long time.

Once on the plane, I sat down in one of the cream colored leather seats and pulled my legs up into my chest. Caleb sat down in the room to my left and stared out the window, posture stiff and anxious. I was scared for him because I didn't know what Lauren would plan to do with him once we arrived back.

There was absolutely no way he'd be welcomed back to the agency with a warm embrace.

Tobias sat in the back and Christina sat across from me. The plane ride was silent – nobody knowing what to say.

A small group of nondescript black SUVs greeted us at the airport and Lauren was standing with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, watching as we all exited the plane.

"Welcome back Agents." She nodded at Tobias, Christina and myself and then straightens up when she spots Caleb. "What is the meaning of this?" She demands. Three agents instantly surround Caleb, two of them grabbing his arms to keep him from running or trying anything.

Tobias spoke up before I could. "It's a long story and we'd be happy to explain it once we're back in the safety of our building."

Lauren doesn't say anything, but nods. "Fine, but he'll have to remain on lockdown until we can be one-hundred percent sure that he isn't a spy for her." Caleb rolls his eyes, but doesn't try to fight it. "As long as his…_sister_ has any complaints about that?" She turns towards me, her eyes taunting.

I look between Caleb and Lauren and then look to Tobias. He stares back at me, his face revealing nothing.

Not wanting to get in anymore trouble with Lauren, I simply say "That's fine with me" and then we all start to pile into the cars.

* * *

**You guys are seriously so amazing and _so _supportive, I can't even begin to tell you how happy that makes me! It's really helping me continue on with the story. I honestly did not expect to have such a positive reaction from this and I just cannot stop being so grateful for you guys. **

**Anyways, I've been really busy with school being back in session and I've had homework to do and stuff and yeah. But I'll try to upload at least one new chapter a week and I'll try to make it long. I can't promise that it'll happen, but I will definitely try my best. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Christina, Tobias and I spent about an hour or more in Lauren's office, going over everything that happened. I begged for Lauren to let Christina leave. I could tell that she didn't want to relive Will's death.

But Lauren wouldn't allow it. She needed every single detail that she could get from us – which meant that Christina stayed.

"So you were able to pull Will out from the building and get him to the hospital," Lauren walked around to the front of her desk, leaning back against it, crossing her arms across her chest. Tobias, Christina and I sat in three chairs in front of her desk – like school children getting in trouble for some stupid fight. "And he then checked himself out and went back to Matthews's building and tried to kill her. So then the three of you decide to go after him – whereupon Ms. Prior runs into her brother, beats him senseless," she smiled at that one. "And then you were all thrown into a room. Will was killed and Ms. Prior was injected with a fear serum?" She takes a deep breath.

Tobias nods, his face still an emotionless mask. "That pretty much sums it up…"

She shakes her head, her brown hair falling in her face. "No, it's not." She frowns. "Ms. Prior's brother helps you all escape, even though that means he'll be a traitor to not only us, but to Jeanine too."

Everyone looks at me and I squeeze my eyes shut tightly. "Yes. Now you have the whole damn story. Can we please leave?" I stand up, clenching my hands into fists.

Lauren waves her hand towards the door, dismissing us. Christina is the first one out, heading towards our room quickly. She's crying.

"Tris!" Tobias calls from behind me. I pick up my pace, but he's easily catching up with me. "Tris, wait." He grabs my arm, yanking me to a halt.

"What do you want?" I demand, pulling my arm free.

He drops his hand to his side, stepping a little closer. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry…"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I scoff. "You're _sorry_?" I glare at him. "You're sorry for what?"

"For being a complete dick when we were in the hotel." He sighs. "I was rude and I really am sorry."

I don't know what to say to him. I could try to make a joke about him apologizing to me or I could just walk away and ignore him. But I don't want to do either of those. He's been so…selfless and brave the past few days – he sacrificed himself for me, not knowing what would happen to him. As stubborn and aggravating as he was, I just couldn't bring myself to hate him anymore – at least, not as much as I used to.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" He asks and I nod, absentmindedly. "Come on." He grabs my hand and pulls me down the hallway where everyone's dorm rooms are.

His hand is much larger than mine and so much warmer. The palm of his hand is rough against mine, but it feels strong – it makes me feel stronger.

Pulling me into a room, he lets go of my hand and shuts the door.

"You live alone?" I didn't mean to say it out loud, it was meant to be an internal thought. But I noticed that his room was the size of mine and Christina's, but yet, there was only one bed and against where another bed should be, there was a large TV screen hanging on the wall.

He shrugs. "I've always preferred to live alone," he sits down on the edge of his bed, the edge of his blue and white striped comforter crinkling.

"Why?" I sit down, crossing one leg under me in the process.

"I just like quiet better. I mean, my life is constant threats and danger – some quiet is really nice." He grins and I can't help but smile at him.

Tobias stares at me for a few moments, my cheeks getting hot with blush, until I finally clear my throat. "So what's the reason you wanted to talk to me privately?"

He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck. "I just…I wanted to talk about what happened back at the hotel…"

I interrupt him. "You mean when you were going to say something, but then didn't?" He laughs a shaky laugh and nods.

Suddenly, I don't want him to speak. I don't want him to tell me what I know. Having someone care about me means that I can lose them – and I can't lose anyone else. I've already lost both my parents and I don't know if I can ever trust Caleb again. Christina's lost Will and she's so torn up over it – I don't want that. I don't want to lose him and then completely give up hope.

"What I was going to say is that…I gave myself up for you because…well, because I care about you, Tris." Tobias looks up at me, his normally dark blue eyes bright. Laughing, he looks up at me, "Well, I more than just _care_ about you. I…"

Quickly, I cover his mouth with my hand, shaking my head. "Tobias, don't."

Grabbing my hand, he pulls it away from his mouth, winding his fingers through mine. "No, _you _don't, Tris. You don't get it! I really do care about you, Tris. I really like you – which is kind of hard to believe since we've only ever fought." He laughs, shaking his head.

I watch as he runs his thumb up and down the back of my hand and I shiver slightly.

"I can't do this, Tobias." Shaking my head, I pull my hand away and move backwards, away from him. "I just…"

He nods, understandingly. "You don't feel the same way."

I shaking my head – it wasn't that. I mean, I felt _something _for him. Something more than the normal hatred and something more than just friends. Of course I cared for him. "It's not that, Tobias. It's just – I've never been in a relationship and I've grown up being brainwashed to put my life ahead of everyone else's and just…relationships have been at the bottom of my necessities list." I press my hands to my forehead. "I can't afford to care about someone like that and then lose them. I just can't, Tobias."

"Tris…" Tobias's voice is soft and gentle – not what I expected at all.

I drop my hands to my lap and stare at the comforter, until Tobias puts his thumb on my chin and one finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "I am not going anywhere," The corners of his lips tug up into a smirk. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

I can't help but smile, looking up at him through my lashes. "Tobias…" I start, but he places his hand over my mouth, quieting me.

"Get over yourself, Tris." Normally I would fight back and argue with him, but what could I say? Yes, I have feelings for him. Yes, I want to be with him. No, I don't want to get attached to him. I don't want to get hurt.

Love is painful and tragic and it can hurt you in ways that normal friendships can't – I know, I've seen it with my parents. But while love is painful, it is also amazing. My parents were in love and it showed whenever my Mom walked into the room and my Dad's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He would also find time to hold her hand or to steal little kisses. He never passed up the chance to tell her he loved her.

Tobias's hand moves from under my chin to cup the side of my face. His other hand rests on my hip, on the sliver of bare skin visible. "Tell me to stop if you don't want this…" his breath his warm against my face, his lips centimeters from mine.

His lips press to mine and I felt as if a wave of warmth washed over me, starting at the top of my head and settling in the bottom of my stomach, fluttering.

I've never kissed someone before – never really had time to or cared for it. And I never understood what the satisfaction of it was.

But now, with Tobias's lips on mine, I understood.

His lips were strong yet soft and his hand that was on my cheek, brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and then he twisted his fingers through my hair, pulling me closer.

My hands, which were still in my lap, moved to lock behind Tobias's neck. I used that moment to pull myself up onto my knees so I was slightly taller than he was. He moved his hands down to my back, gripping my hips lightly to steady me.

I was completely disoriented until I felt his warm hand move slowly up my back, under my shirt.

Shaking my head, I grabbed his hand and pulled it away. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I intertwined my fingers through his. "I'm sorry, I just…I'm so not ready for that." He nods.

"I'm okay with that." His lips twitch as a smile stretches over his face. "So I guess that answers the question of whether or not you feel the same way." Laughing, he rubs the back of his neck and I notice that his cheeks are a slight red color.

We spend the next few hours lying on his bed, talking about anything and everything. He asks me how I'm feeling and I just shrug. He pulls me in closer and I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

I must have fallen asleep because next thing I know, Tobias is shaking me awake. "Tris, wake up." I blink the sleep from my eyes and see Tobias leaning over top of me. "It's your brother."

I sit up, swinging my legs to floor. I was asleep for a few hours because it was mid-afternoon when I got to Tobias's room and now its pitch black, the crescent moon visible from his window. "What about him?" I question as Tobias hands me a black zip-up hoodie. I'm thankful for it because I'm freezing.

We leave the room and I put the hoodie on, leaving it unzipped.

"He wants to talk to you before he goes into his session with Lauren."

The session would be the deciding factor in whether he remained in the "jail cells" that we have and be considered a traitor, or if he would be allowed to leave.

I didn't know which one I preferred.

We turn down towards the main hallway and then Tobias enters a password to get us down to the cells. We enter an elevator and it takes about five seconds to get to the floor.

The cells are under the entire building and have two floors of cells. We don't house many of the captives me get, but sometimes it's necessary for when we need information from them. I now understand why Caleb's still here.

Lauren stands in the center of the room where about fifteen computers are set up in a circle, a few people seated around them.

She looks up at us as we walk in and nods to the few guards on duty. They disperse, heading to the elevator.

"I'm sorry, Beatrice." She stands in front of me with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. A slightly taller man stands a few feet behind her, a white tablet in hand. He looks familiar – he looks to be around Lauren's age, maybe older. He'd probably be the same age as my parents. He has a salt and pepper beard that matches his thinning hair. "It's not looking too good for your brother." I forgot that she was talking to me until Tobias's hand gripped my wrist soothingly.

My face falls and I glance nervously behind me. Caleb is sitting against a wall in his cell, his hair unruly and his arms resting on top of his knees.

"You have to do something!" I'm suddenly shouting at her. "You're in charge here! Do something!" Tobias's grip on my wrist tightens, holding me back.

Lauren shakes her head. "I'm not in charge," she points to the man standing behind her. "David is."

I shoot him a glare. "Then _you _do something." My voice softens, no longer angry. "Please, he's my brother and the last remaining family member I have left. I can't lose him."

The man – David – steps forward, lowering the tablet. "I'm sorry, Agent Prior. There's nothing we can do. The upper levels voted and we can't risk it. He could still be working for Jeanine Matthews and is just lying to everyone."

I look up at Tobias who is glaring at the ground, his jaw tightening.

David sighs, squaring his shoulders. "I'll see what I can do though."

Thanking him, I turn to Caleb and stop a few inches from the bars.

"I'm so sorry, Caleb." I apologize. Caleb's gaze is fixated over my shoulder behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I follow his gaze to Lauren and David, stepping into the elevator. "You know him…" It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Caleb nods, seeming defeated. "He works for Jeanine. He's like…her right hand man or something."

"I thought that was you." I say bitterly.

He shakes his head, hunching his shoulders in on himself. "No, she used me for inside information, that was it. And I helped her correct a formula on the fear serum."

"So he's here…"

"To finish what Jeanine originally was going to have me do before I found out that you were still here." He looks up at me and I shift my gaze away from him.

My eyes drift over to Tobias, where he's leaning up against the wall near the elevator, arms crossed across his chest. "Caleb, I really am sorry for putting you in here. I'm a really shitty person."

He stands up and steps close to the bars. He's a good half a foot taller than me. "Beatrice, it's my fault. I shouldn't have done what I did. It was stupid and…I let Mom and Dad down."

I don't know what else to say to him so I turn away from the cell and head towards Tobias. He reaches for my hand and I let him, relishing in the feeling of his warm hand gripping mine, sending a wave of warmth up my arm. I lean up against him, closing my eyes.

Once we reach the floor where both Tobias and I's dorms are, he grips my hand tighter, tugging me towards his room.

He sits down on the bed, pulling me onto his leg, wrapping his arms tightly around me. "Are you okay?" He asks, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

Shaking my head, I grip his shirt tightly in my hands. "I don't know…" My voice is barely a whisper. "Will's gone, we practically failed our mission and I don't know whether my brother is going to be able to leave unharmed or if he's going to be marked a traitor." I snort, shaking my head. "And I don't know if I want him to leave or not."

"I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not." I tilt my head back to glare up at him, but he's shaking his head. "I mean, I'm sorry about Will and your brother, but Tris – you were amazing on the mission and you didn't fail. I've already told you that! We saved Will, but he made his own choice. It had nothing to do with us." I sigh, but don't argue.

Who cares if we did technically fulfill our mission? My best friend lost her boyfriend, I lost one of my best friends and the agency lost a valuable agent. It sucked.

"And you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself." He grips my chin with his forefinger and thumb, tilting my head up. "You are amazing at what you do and your parents would be proud of you."

_But they would absolutely loathe Caleb. _

The thought suddenly disappears when Tobias attaches his lips to mine; silencing every single thought I had a minute ago.

He shifts us so that my back is pressed against the mattress and he's hovering over top of me. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." He whispers, pressing his lips to my forehead. I smirk, rolling my eyes.

Tobias agrees to let me spend the night in his room, promising that he would take the floor. It's silly to do that, but I don't want to go back to my room because Christina is most likely still upset over Will and she deserved her time to grieve. And having Tobias in the same room as me, it helped me ignore the ache I felt in my chest over Caleb.

He was a temporary solution to a problem I would have to face sooner or later.

* * *

**Author's Note: I am sosososo sorry about how late this is! I've just been swamped with homework and school/family-related things. I know the ending is kind of bleh, but I've been feeling like shit because my allergies are terrible and I've barely been in the mood to go to school, let alone write, but I tried my best for you guys. **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

The next morning I wake up before Tobias and tip-toe out of his room, shutting the door behind me quietly. I make my way to Christina and I's room and when I open up the door, she's sitting on her bed, scrolling through her phone. Tears are streaming down her cheeks.

My heart breaks.

"Have you been up all night?" I ask softly, going to sit down next to her on her bed. She shrugs, wiping the tears away and leaning into my side. I wrap my arms around her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Chris." I rest my chin on the top of her head. "I wish I could have done something. I _wanted _to do something."

She pulls out of my arms and sits up, facing me. The sadness and despair is gone from her eyes, replaced by a hate so strong, it seemed like her caramel-brown eyes darkened to black.

"I want to kill her." Her voice is strong, no more shaky, crying voice. "I _have _to kill her, Tris. I need to do it."

I shake my head. "Chris…you can't. That's what Will tried to do, but he…" I trail off, seeing her wince.

"Yeah, but he didn't have you to back him up." She sits up straight, wiping her drying tears on the palm of her hand. "You're an amazing fighter, Tris! You can help me."

Seeing Christina so…delusional makes me feel so bad and want to help her so much. But I can't. Lauren ordered me to stay back and not interfere anymore – she ordered everyone not to interfere. I wanted revenge for Will's death just as much as I wanted revenge for Jeanine killing my Father and for turning Caleb against my family.

Normally I would take advantage of this whole situation and probably hunt Jeanine down by myself; but now that I was with Tobias and Christina was so upset, I couldn't even think about going back there.

"Christina, I can't do that."

"Why? Because you're scared?" She stands up, throwing her blankets off of her. "You really can't help me with this _one _thing, Tris? You're really that selfish?"

I don't know what to say to her – because I am being selfish, but for the right reason – so I do what I always do whenever I don't know what to say. I leave.

Once I'm out in the hall, I run into Tobias, who is holding a blueberry muffin. He hands it to me and I smile gratefully.

"Are you okay?" He looks concerned and I should be a good – I can't even think the word – girlfriend and tell him what I am feeling.

Instead, I lie.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Lauren just told me I could go talk to Caleb again." He gives me a questioning look and I quickly look down at the floor. "It's just so that I can talk to him before…"

Tobias doesn't argue, but I can tell that he still doesn't completely believe me. Fine.

I feel his eyes on me as I walk towards the elevator and step inside of it.

I wasn't lying when I told him that I was going to go talk to Caleb. He's the only person who actually knows David and knows what he knew about Jeanine and how long she was working for her. He could have all of the answers that I need. But there was one major problem – the entire cell block area was monitored by cameras and recorders in every single cell. There was no way I'd be able to talk to him about David without someone finding out.

The elevator doors opened Caleb's head snapped up, narrowing his eyes as I headed for his cell. "Beatrice? What are you doing here?" He places a book down on the floor, the front of the cover worn with age.

I step as close as possible to the bars, still not wanting to be very close to him, lowering my voice so only he can hear me. "I want to know more about David." Caleb's eyes quickly glance over my shoulder and then back at me, taking one step closer. "I _need _to know everything. Tell me what he did and how he helped Jeanine."

He glances behind him, at the small black camera in the upper corner of the cell. "Beatrice…"

I shake my head. "Caleb, don't start. You owe me. If you want me to forgive you, you will tell me." I hiss, glaring at him. "Prove to me that you're not a traitor! Prove that you still love our family." I lower my voice. "And if you do this for me, once David and Jeanine are arrested you'll be able to get out of here. _David _has the final say in your fate."

He bites the inside of his cheeks and rock backwards on his heels. He takes a deep breath and then nods. "He wasn't helping Jeanine," I'm about to interrupt when he sticks his hand up, silencing me. "David was the one created the serums. Jeanine was just collecting them and using them for him."

_ So Jeanine's not as smart as she wants everyone to think she is. _

I have to clap my hand over my mouth to hide the rueful smile trying to fight its way onto my lips.

"Thank you, Caleb. And I promise I will do my best to get you out of here." I start to turn away, but then Caleb is speaking again.

"Beatrice…please don't do anything stupid." I look at him, his face serious. "I know I don't have a right to ask you to do that, but just please think of the people that care about you." I turn away, heading for the elevator while fighting off tears that threatened to show themselves.

When I get back to the dormitory floor, I contemplate whether I want to find Tobias again and tell him about David or if I want to tell Christina – she would be more than willing to help me. Tobias would be apprehensive about it, worried that I was putting myself in danger.

Finally, I decided that I would do this all alone. I wouldn't put Tobias and Christina's lives at risk.

I didn't really know how to actually approach this – I mean I couldn't just barge into David's office and accuse him of working with Jeanine. But I _could _search his office and try to find proof.

Smirking to myself, I head towards the armory – there is no way in hell I'm going to search his office without a weapon. I grab a knife and a pistol, clearing it and then loading it again. I shove it under the waistband of my jeans. I stretch my jacket sleeves over my knuckles, wrapping my arms tightly around myself.

I could do this. I could solve this all and then I could go back to Tobias and we could go back to going on normal missions where we intervene during a drug trade and stop it, taking down the suppliers.

Once I'm in the elevator, I press the button for floor 43 – the floor with Lauren's office but I had a feeling that while David remained here, he would be using her office as his.

And I know I'm right from the moment I walk in and David is sitting behind the desk, flipping through paperwork and running his hands through his thinning hair. He looks up when I walk in and his faces drops. "Ms. Prior," He stands up, pushing his chair back. "What can I help you with?"

I walk carefully towards him, my hand twitching – wanting to reach for the gun. "I want to know why you were at Jeanine Matthews's office when she had me captive."

He looks surprised, but I can tell that it's all faked. He's angry. "I would watch how you speak to me, Agent Prior. I am in charge of this facility and I can easily have you removed." He steps around the desk and stands in front of me. "And if you were smart, you'd keep this to yourself because you've shown an amazing immunity to my experiments and I would hate to see the agency lose such a promising agent to one of Jeanine Matthews's serums." His gray eyes flicker like a flame in a fireplace and I have the urge to look away. But I know if I do look away, he'll know he has scared me.

I open my mouth to speak when suddenly, a hand clamps over my mouth and blackness covers my vision. Something soft and wet replaces the hand and all I can smell is a mixture of bleach and something else.

My head feels fuzzy and all the fight goes out of me – my limbs softening to nothing.

And then everything goes black.

When I finally come to, my body still feels weak and I try to move. My arms are barely able to push me up into a sitting position. My head spins for a few seconds before finally settling and focusing on a figure seated right across from me.

It's a mirror – I'm staring at myself. My hair is messy disarray, a blonde tangled mess. There's a cut on my lower lip, with dried blood.

The room is cold with white floors, walls and ceilings. I shiver, remembering the last time I was in a room like this – I was in Jeanine's building.

_Oh please don't let me back there! Please, not there!_

I pat around in my pockets for my knife, but there's nothing. Damn it, they took my knife. I was now hopelessly unarmed and weakened from whatever I had inhaled earlier.

The door opens and I resist the urge to cower in the corner in fear, so I look up and glare at David standing in the doorway, three armed guards behind him outside the door. I recognize one of the guards as the red-headed one I shot – Peter.

"Ah, you're awake!" David sands his hands together and smirks. "Even better than I hoped." He turns to face the three guards. "Molly? Hand me the box please."

The guard to the right of David steps forward, brown hair framing her round face. She hands him a simple black box and then steps backwards.

"This is a new serum that I've been concocting lately." He opens the box and a small syringe filled with a dark purple liquid is in it. "It's the strongest dosage of the fear serum and well, you'll see what happens."

He steps towards me and I clench my hands into fists. "Inject me with that, and I'll shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be tasting leather for a month."

David laughs, shaking his head. "You have no hold on me, Miss Prior."

I try to move backwards, but I'm already pressed against the wall and I'm too weak to try to get up and run away – plus there are three _armed _guards standing outside of the door waiting for me to do just that.

He grabs my face with his hand, forcing me to stay still. The tip of the needle pinches the skin on my neck and he pushes the plunger down. My throat feels like it tightens up and I close my eyes, trying to tell myself to breathe – but my heart rate just increases with each breath.

When I open my eyes, I'm alone in the room, David and the guards gone. I stare at my reflection in the mirror and can see my whole body trembling. My heart is still beating like a hummingbird's wings. "Breathe, Tris, breathe." I order myself, digging my nails into the palm of my hands. I was always able to break out of Jeanine's experiments if I lowered my heartbeats enough. But this time, I can't stop panicking.

"Beatrice." A familiar, calming voice sends me back into…whatever _this _is – whether it's a hallucination or not. "Beatrice, be careful."

Mom.

I'm back at my old house, the one Caleb and I grew up in, standing next to my Mom as she bakes cookies. She has a pile of sugar cookies in front of her and she reaches for a sharp cookie cutter that I'm holding in my hand.

She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes like a genuine smile does. "Where's Dad?" I look behind me and see Caleb sitting at the kitchen table, bent over schoolbooks. His head snaps up and he glares at me, shaking his head. I resist the urge to hit him across the head with the pan resting on the stove.

Mom frowns. "Please do not bring that up, Beatrice."

Suddenly everything changes. We're still standing in the kitchen, but Caleb is gone, it's nighttime now and the cookies disappeared.

My Mother is standing in front of me, holding a sharp knife in her hand, her grip so tight that her knuckles turn white and there are tears falling down her face. "I miss your Father so much, Beatrice." She wails holding the knife out in front of her and then plunging it into her stomach.

A blood curdling scream falls from my lips and I try to run towards her, but something is pulling me backwards, away from her. I pull against the force but my Mother's dead body grows smaller and smaller until I can't see anything left. I can't hear anything except my screaming and I can't feel anything – the pain is too overwhelming.

Everything starts to disappear around me – the walls of my house, the floors, and the furniture – until I'm back in the room with the mirrors. I'm staring at myself in the mirror, my body pressed against the wall.

It takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm still screaming and then I clap my hand over my mouth and start to sob. My entire body shakes with each sob. I can still feel my Mom's hands taking the cookie cutter from me and I can still see her smile behind my eyelids. It hurts. Everything in my body hurts.

Telling time is too difficult in this room. I don't know if it's morning or night. Nobody tells me and there are no windows to give me some type of hint. All I know is that every now and then, one of the armed guards opens the door to slide in a tray of food which includes a cheese sandwich and water. The food lays untouched – I'm too scared to eat.

It feels like only minutes later when the door opens and again and I look up, expecting to see David ready to inject me with another serum – but I see Tobias.

He has a cut on his lip and above his eyebrow and they're slightly bleeding, but otherwise he looks unharmed. Holding a gun out, he glances around the room and then his eyes land on me. "Tris." He breathes and my body instantly reacts to his voice, knowing I'm safe now. I'm safe.

He makes his way towards me quickly and slides his arms underneath my legs and around my back, pulling me up into his arms. "Don't worry; I'm getting you out of here." I shake my head, glancing up at the camera in the corner of the room.

"What about David?" My voice is hoarse.

His face is taunt and expressionless. "I shot him. I had to – to get into here." I don't argue with his logic, but instead press my face into his chest, breathing in his scent. "You shouldn't have gone to him alone, Tris." Tobias shoves open a door with his shoulder and suddenly he's running down the steps.

I try to say I'm sorry, but I can't. My throat hurts too much from the lack of water.

When Tobias opens another door, we're standing in a foyer with nobody in it. He places my feet down on the floor and keeps his hands on my waist, steadying me. "God, you don't know how happy I am that you're safe." He wastes no time in pressing his lips to mine. Despite the fact that I haven't eaten in who knows how many days, my body knows exactly what to do and responds with the same passion as him.

He pulls back, a smile plastered on his face. "We really need to get going before you pass out." I nod, my breathing heavy.

He lifts me back into his arms easily and before he can turn to head towards the door, a gun goes off and we're both falling to the floor. Tobias drops me and I roll, groaning as my hip hits the hard flooring. I groan and pull myself up to see Tobias crumpled on the ground in a pool of blood.

_No. No!_

I use all my strength to army crawl over to him, and pull myself up into a sitting position. I grab his hand tightly, trying to squeeze life back into it. "Tobias, please. Please wake up!" I cry loudly. "Tobias, don't you dare leave me!" I scream, squeezing tears from my eyes. My hands are covered in his blood and I try to wipe them on the floor but it's pointless.

No. No. I don't want this.

I press my forehead to his, crying uncontrollably. I can't live through this. I can't do it. I want to die.

"Please, Tobias." I beg between hiccups.

I feel something cold press to my temple and I stay where I am, clutching Tobias tightly. I don't care. Let them kill me. Let them take me away from all of this. _I do not care_.

There's the sound of the gun being loaded and then the trigger is pulled.

And I'm back in the white, mirrored room. I'm curled into a tight ball with my arms wrapped tightly around my legs. I can feel my entire body shaking with tears.

_It wasn't real. It was not real._

* * *

**Guys, I am so sorry this is late! I've been busy with college applications and writing a college essay and just...everything's been crazy. I also can't lie that it took me awhile to get this chapter started because I didn't truly know where I wanted to go with it. But I figured it out after awhile. And I also think this story isn't going to last much longer because I would rather have a short story than have a longer story with a bunch of fluff. I hate fluff in stories. **

**But thank you all for the positive feedback and everything and I love you all so much.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

My head hurt and my chest shook with constant, nonstop sobs. "Please…" I begged, my voice barely audible. "Please stop this."

I had endured days of having to relive my parents' deaths and Tobias dying. My body was weak from constantly crying and from the lack of food. I've only been drinking the bottled water, but I have refused to touch the food – maybe if I was too weak, David would stop the experiments on me and just kill me.

My hands were bloody from when I had punched the mirrors, thinking it was Jeanine, while under one of the serums. The blood was dried, but there was still a constant throbbing behind the cuts.

After awhile, David stopped coming in to administer the serums and he never sent in one of his guards. There was a small ball of hope that I held on to that believed he was just going to kill me. Normally I would be disgusted with how hopeful I was for that outcome, but at this point, anything was better than watching my parents and Tobias continuously die over and over again in different ways.

The door opened and a plate of food was placed in my room and then the door shut again, locking. I kicked the tray of food away and closed my eyes.

"Tris, wake up!" Someone kept shaking my shoulder, trying to wake me, voice urgent. "Tris, you gotta get up!" I opened my eyes slowly to see Tobias bent over me, two guns criss-crossed over his back. "Tris, we need to get going. _Now_."

I try to speak, to move – to do anything – but I can't. I'm too weak. Tobias notices this and soon slips his arms under my legs and wraps the other around my back, pulling me to him and then hurrying out of the room. The room that I was so sure would be my coffin.

This can't be real. I can't really be finally escaping.

This is another serum. But it feels so real. None of the serums have been able to get Tobias so correct – his smell was never the same and his eyes never had the strong, determined glint that they do now.

We turn down three hallways before he stops, placing my feet on the ground. "Tris, you need to stand up. I know it's hard for you, but you really need to stand." I nod weakly and focus on keeping myself standing.

He takes one of the guns off his back and hands it to me. "Can you shoot this?"

"Yes." My voice sounds less convincing than I planned, but he doesn't argue. I put the strap on over my shoulders and am amazed at how weak I have gotten in the past few days.

Tobias nods once he sees I can stand properly and then takes my elbow. "Come on, Christina's waiting for us in the car downstairs. We need to hurry."

I stumbled alongside Tobias, his grip tightening each time we took a corner. We had only gone three floors down when I had to stop because I was too tired to continue. He didn't argue about me wanting to rest for a few moments which made me feel a little better for slowing us down.

"Hey! Stop!" Both our heads snapped up at the same time and I instinctively pulled my gun up to the ready. Peter had his gun held up in front of him, running towards us. Tobias tried to pull me up from the steps, but I refused, shoving his hand away with my elbow.

"Tris, we can out run him." I shook my head, my arms shaking under the weight of the gun. I press the butt of the gun to my shoulder to help steady it.

I didn't know why Peter wasn't shooting us, but I didn't want to waste any moment I had to do this.

Aiming the gun properly, I waited until he was close enough to me that I knew I wouldn't miss – even being as weak as I currently was. I pulled the trigger and shot him. It hit the center of his chest.

He fell forward, collapsing on top of his gun; dark red blood began to pool around him. I dropped the gun and let Tobias pull me up.

This time, he had me climb onto his back and wrap my arms and legs around him so that he could use the gun if necessary. "Hold on." He orders and I nod, pressing my face into his back and closing my eyes.

I didn't open my eyes until I felt a cold breeze against my arms and Tobias slowed down to a brisk jog.

We were outside. _I was outside_. It's felt like forever since I've seen the sky and trees.

I spy Christina sitting on top of a dark blue Audi A4 and she hops down as soon as she sees me. "Tris!" She smiles in relief and goes to hug me but Tobias grabs her shoulder, holding her back.

As much as I missed Christina and want to hug her and let her know I'm safe, I'm grateful Tobias held her back. I feel too weak.

They both help me into the back of the car and I lie down on the bench and close my eyes. The last thing I register is Tobias climbing into the passenger's seat and Christina in the driver's seat.

When I wake up I'm in an unfamiliar room with light blue walls and white tiled floors. I start to panic, thinking that I was still back in David and Jeanine's building, until I see Tobias sitting on a chair next to me. There are beeping noises near my head and I look up, seeing a bunch of different monitors and wires that hang from the monitors and most of them connect to me.

I stare at the needles in my hands and feel bile rising in my throat. _Calm down. Calm, Tris, calm. You're safe. _

Tobias stirs and then looks up at me. Worry is painted all over his face and I feel so bad for putting him through this. "Tris…" He breathes a sigh of relief, pushing himself up from the chair and taking three big strides towards me and sits down on the edge of the bed, careful not to move me at all. "How are you feeling?" His hand reaches out to stroke a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Sore. Tired." I glare at the blankets covering my legs and feel so stupid.

Tobias places his hand on my cheek, stroking his thumb across my cheekbone. "The doctor said you'll be sore for a few days, but your main problem is the lack of food in your system." He shakes his head at me. "They believe that once you start eating again, then you'll be better. The serums didn't do any permanent damage."

I nod and then look up at him. "Bet I could still kick your ass, even right now." He laughs and it sends a shiver up my spine. I haven't heard him laugh in so long and I had worried I would never hear it again.

I suddenly feel stupid for craving death. That would mean leaving Tobias – and Christina – behind. And I couldn't do that.

His smile disappears and a stone hard mask replaces it. "Tris, what you did was incredibly stupid. How could you just confront him like that? Why didn't you come tell me?" I try to speak, but he presses the palm of his hands over my mouth. "I could've lost you. I went crazy trying to figure out what happened to you. I basically strangled Caleb trying to get the information out of him."

I had to admit, the thought of him strangling Caleb felt kind of good. Even though he had helped me, I still hated him. Not as much as I originally did, but I still would never be able to look at him the same again.

"What happened to David?" I asked. Tobias bringing up Caleb reminded me why I had gone to him in the first place. "I mean, he stopped the experiments for awhile…I assumed he was just going to kill me. How long was I gone for?" Time had meant nothing while I was in the hell-hole. I had no clock or watch and no guards would tell me.

"A few days," Tobias rubs the back of his neck. "Five or six." I shivered. I was in there for five or six days. David had used the serums on me multiple times – it felt like he only used one a day, but if I was there for only a short amount of time, I had to guess that he used them on me maybe three or four times a day. "It took so long to get to you because I had to explain to Lauren what was happening so that we could get back up and then we had to go through a plan. I tried to explain the safest option to get you out safely, but no one would listen to me." He looks up at the ceiling, scowling. "They were more worried about arresting David than getting to you. I broke away from them to find you. Wasn't too hard." He takes a deep breath. "Your room was locked so I obviously had to find the key. So I went to, what I presumed to be David's office, and found him looking over something on his computer. And then I shot him."

If I didn't know better, I would say that Tobias looks like he almost regrets it. But I know deep down, he's happy to be rid of David.

"Thank you." I whisper, reaching forward as much as I can and brush my fingers against his arm.

Tobias looks at me and then leans in, gently brushing his lips against mine. The heart monitor starts to beat a little faster and I feel him smirking against my lips.

He pulled back and I sighed. "What?"

I shook my head. "I feel pathetic. I couldn't fight the serums off like before with Jeanine and…I wasn't able to take David down like I had planned. I didn't do anything except put myself in danger like a stupid child."

Tobias sighed. "Tris, just because you didn't help on this doesn't mean that you aren't good at your job. You are amazing." He brushes another loose strand of hair away from my face, keeping his palm against my cheek. "You helped get Will out of Jeanine's hold and let's not even get into how many other successful missions you've had." My face gets hot as he smirks. "You are a much feared agent in our facility and everyone knows not to screw with you."

"Except David and Jeanine," I add. "Because apparently I'm abnormal to them and they thought that I was just a tiny little girl playing pretend." I hold my arm up, showing off the needles taped to my skin. "And now the 'best agent' is in the hospital because of them." Dropping my arm back down onto the bed, I sigh, dropping my head back against the pillows.

Tobias laughs a humorless laugh. Glancing up at him, I quirk an eyebrow, confused. "Actually you're in here because you refused to eat and needed sugar and food back in your system."

"Technicalities." I say, rolling my eyes.

He takes my hand in his and intertwines our fingers together. "Well good news for you is I convinced the nurses to let you go home today. Two days in the hospital is enough for you."

"_Two days_?" I screech. "I was out for _two _whole days?" He nods.

"You needed sleep and the nurses said that it made getting fuel back into you easier – not much resistance could be done on your part."

Suddenly a nurse walks in and smiles at me. "You all ready to go home, sweetie?" I nod and then glance at my arm. "I'll take those out right now."

As she's working on taking the needles out, Tobias leaned against the windows, arms crossed over his chest. Once she's gone and given me the 'okay' to leave, Tobias hands me a small backpack.

"Christina dropped off a change of clothes when you got here."

_Christina_. My chest feels tighter thinking of her. Once again I feel selfish for ever craving death. She had lost Will, her boyfriend and one of her best friends. I couldn't let her lose me, too. She doesn't deserve to be in that kind of pain.

I disappear into the bathroom and pull the clothes out of the bag. There's a gray sweatshirt, black yoga pants and a pair of my black running shoes. There's also a pair of fresh underwear and a new bra and I can't help but laugh. She's like a concerned mother.

Once I'm dressed I shut the door to the bathroom and Tobias is still leaning against the window. Pushing himself off of it, he strides over to me taking the bag. I give him a small smile of thanks and he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me into him. I dig my face into his chest and wrap both my arms tightly around his waist. "God, I've missed you." My voice is muffled by his shirt, but I know he can still hear me. He drops the bag to the floor to wrap both his arms around me.

We stand like that for a few minutes before he pulls back, throwing the bag over his shoulder. "We should get going. Someone might need this room shortly and I know Christina is dying to see you again." He smirks and I laugh, taking his hand.

Back at the agency, we somehow managed to dodge anyone who would want to question me – which mainly meant Lauren, but I would run into her at some point soon.

Christina was waiting anxiously for me in our room and as soon as I opened the door, she threw herself off her bed and wrapped her arms tightly around me. I returned the hug, hiding my tear-streaked face in her shoulder.

When I pulled back, her brown cheeks were wet with tears. We both looked at each other for a few seconds before laughing. "Never do that to me again." She ordered, punching my arm lightly.

"I promise." She hugged me again and then looked over my shoulder. I follow her gaze and see Tobias leaning against the doorframe.

She nods to him and then focuses back on me. "As much as I want to hang out with you and make sure this isn't a hallucination – you two need some time together." A sad smile appears fights its way onto her lips and I want to tell Tobias to leave and that we'd talk tomorrow.

But Christina is already pushing me back out the door.

Tobias takes my hand and silently leads me down the hall towards his room.

"You know a decent boyfriend would let his girlfriend be with her best friend after almost dying." I mockingly chastise him and he just shrugs.

"Hey, it was her idea. She told me she just wanted to see you alive and awake." He sits down on the edge of his bed and pulls me in by my waist. I place my hands on his shoulders and toss my hair over my shoulder. "Besides, she wanted us to spend some time together because I was going absolutely insane when you were gone. I almost strangled Caleb trying to get an answer from him as to where the hell you went." Guilt beats against the inside of my stomach and I look down at our feet. "I had wanted to just go in and do whatever it took to get to you, but Lauren refused to allow me and I can't disobey her orders…" His voice trails off and he looks like he feels guilty. Why does he feel guilty? He saved me. No matter how long it took him, I'm still alive because of him.

I place both my hands on either side of his face and look him directly in his deep, comforting blue eyes. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself," I demand, "You saved my life and I am so grateful for that, Tobias. I don't care however long it took. You saved me. _You_." It was kind of ironic I was giving him a stop-feeling-sorry-for-yourself speech. He was the one giving it to me at the hospital.

We were so alike and stubborn it was kind of funny.

He tries to argue but I quiet him by pressing my lips to his. I wrap my arms around the back of his neck again, pulling myself closer as his arms tighten around my waist.

His lips travel towards my collarbone and I sigh loudly, my eyes closed and tilting my face up towards the ceiling. "Tris…" He breathes.

"Mmm?"

"I love you." His voice is soft and gentle – more so than I've ever heard it before, like he's scared to say those words. And he may have never said them to anyone before – which terrifies me.

I don't hesitate or even say anything; I just press my lips back against his.

* * *

**You guys! I am so sorry I haven't posted in a bit! I've had tons of homework and assignments I had to do and I had to study for the SATs and crap and I've been filling out college applications - life's a bit hectic.**

**but i was finally able to finish this chapter (not how i really wanted to, but i just wanted you guys to have a new chapter!)**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Lauren had eventually caught up to me and forced me into her office. She went on a whole rant about how it was childish and stupid of me to try and attack an (ex)-member of the agency behind her back and how I could've been seriously hurt. After she was done ranting, she turned sentimental and asked me if I was okay and once I told her I was, she ordered me to take a break from all my missions and training.

I didn't argue with her and was glad to be able to rest for a few weeks. Although I was upset that Tobias has a chance of becoming better than me.

But I didn't try to push my luck with her, so whenever Christina was available, I dedicated a majority of my time with her. We would sit in our room and watch movies or talk – avoiding what happened with Will and what I went through.

There was still two major problems that I faced and would have to deal with at some point soon – what was going to happen with Caleb. Apparently while I was gone, they thought it would be a bad idea to try to wipe his memory or do anything else before I got my chance to say good-bye to him.

And there was also the topic of Jeanine Matthews. She was still in Chicago in her building, still testing the serums (on whom? We don't know) and no one wanted to barge into her building and take her out. I wanted to kill her. Although David had been the mastermind behind all the serums and testing, Jeanine was the one developing them. She was the one who David went to for all the new serums and progress reports. It was her idea to test on me.

But I was still recovering and so I couldn't do much except for visiting Caleb. The relief that washed over his face when he saw me made me almost feel bad for beating him up.

I wanted to forgive him so much – he was the last living member of my family and I didn't want to lose him – but after everything he's done? He was helping Jeanine and David. He knew about the serums. He was the reason David was able to drive me insane and almost kill me.

When I approach his cell, he stands up and walks over, grabbing the bars. "Beatrice, I'm so sorry…" I cut him off by holding my hand up and shaking my head.

"I know, Caleb. I know and I want to forgive you, I really do." Sighing, I cross my arms over my chest. "But I almost died because of what you did. You helped Jeanine and David with those serums. If you didn't – if you never tried to develop those, then I wouldn't have almost died."

For the first time in a long time, Caleb was absolutely and completely speechless. If my feelings weren't so conflicted I would have been proud of myself for getting him to shut up without force.

"Lauren wants to use memory serum on you…" His face goes white at my words, "and I'm going to let her." He starts to panic and figure a way out of it, but I just shake my head. "Not enough for you to forget everyone and everything completely. They've figured out how much to use to make you forget the past few years. You'll still remember me and mom and dad. And you'll still remember where you live and everything necessary like that, but you won't remember ever working for Jeanine and David. And you won't remember how to develop the serums." His posture relaxes slightly, but to be honest, if I were him – I wouldn't be relaxed knowing some of my memories were going to be wiped, but I knew my coming words would soothe him a little more. "Lauren is also going to allow you back into the agency and she is going to have you work with _our _scientists on _our _serums. And if you are ever caught working against us again, they're not going to throw you in jail again, Caleb."

"They'll kill me." He finishes up, shoulders hunching over a bit.

I nod. "I trust you Caleb and I fought for you. If it were entirely up to Lauren, she'd have all your memories wiped and send you to California or somewhere so that you could become someone entirely different." It was true. When Lauren pulled me into her office to question me about David, she told me about Caleb and how she was preparing to use the memory serum we had on him. I argued with her that he didn't deserve that and that she couldn't do that to him. I didn't want her to use it on him. I didn't want to lose my brother. Regardless of knowing that he was still my brother, he wouldn't know. So Lauren and I came to a compromise.

"I'm so, so sorry, Beatrice." Glancing behind me, the guard on-duty nods his head once and I open up the cell door, surprising Caleb. He steps out and instantly wraps his arms around me tightly. My head barely reached his shoulder. "I love you, Beatrice. And thank you – for fighting for me."

"I love you too, Caleb." I tighten my arms around him. I feel like we're both sixteen again, back when our parents died, and Caleb and I stood together at their funerals and Caleb held my hand – holding both of us together for the sake of image in front of everyone at the funerals. "Mom and Dad love you, too."

After we say our good-byes, Lauren comes down and I take that as my time to go.

When I get to the main floor, Tobias is waiting for me out front of the elevator. I don't say anything, I just walk into his arms and feel like melting when he wraps his arms tightly around me, his chin resting on the top of my head.

"I'm scared he won't remember me…" I mumble into his arm.

Tobias strokes my hair and starts pulling me back towards the elevator. Once the doors shut and he presses the button for his floor, he leans against the wall. "He'll remember you just…not the past few years. You can fill him in on anything you want. Make him the brother you deserve."

_The brother you deserve_. I sigh. I didn't know if I deserved Caleb and I didn't know if he deserved me. I didn't know which one was worse.

"Come on." Tobias takes my hand and pulls me out from the elevator and down the hall towards his room. He lies down on his bed and pulls me down next to him, pulling me into his side. "You need to stop worrying about everything." He presses his lips to the top of my head. "Lauren told you to rest and that's what you need to do." I look up at him as he grabs my hand and twists our fingers together.

I muster a smile and focus on his fingers brushing against my knuckles. "It's hard for me to rest when I worry so much."

Tobias smirks and looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "I could help with that."

I kick his calf and he winces – good, at least now I knew my strength was coming back. "I'm serious! I can't not worry. It's what I'm best at."

He shakes his head, laughing. "No, what you're best at is kicking ass and making people regret ever messing with you."

"Oh you mean like you?" He rolled his eyes but I couldn't help but laugh. It was weird – lying here on Tobias's bed with his arms wrapped around me. Ever since we both arrived at the agency we couldn't get along. We were always fighting and when we were paired up during practice, instructors would love to watch us because not only were we two of the best agents, but we also hated each other so much that it made the fights interesting.

Tobias leans down, pressing his lips to mine. He's soft at first, making sure that I don't pull or away or anything and then the kiss intensifies. He moves his hand to the small of my back, pulling me even closer to him. My breathing is loud and I twist my hand in his shirt, pulling myself on top of him, placing my legs on either side of him. Tobias sits up, wrapping one arm completely around my waist and running the other one through my hair. I sit back on his legs and lock my arms behind his neck.

Without realizing it, I was pulling Tobias's shirt off over his head and running my hands down the front of his chest.

His skin was warm against my fingertips, and his muscles were hard from years of tough physical training. My hands were shaking with nerves and my breathing was heavy and loud. His hands left my hips and travelled under my shirt and up my back.

I wanted Tobias. _God I wanted him so badly_.

But I just can't. I couldn't do this right now.

"Tobias…" I reach behind me, grabbing my hands and pulling them away. "Tobias, stop, please." I push myself off of his lap and my back hits the wall. I pull my legs into my chest, wrapping my arms around them and watching Tobias put his shirt back on, confused.

"Did I hurt you?" He asks, tugging the shirt on. I shake my head, running my fingers through my hair.

"No, no. You didn't do anything wrong, I just can't…" I can't even say the word and I feel childish. I feel like a ten-year-old.

Tobias quirks an eyebrow. "What? Have sex with me?"

I nod. "It's not because I don't like you. I do like you." My voice shakes and I clench my hands into fists tightly. "I…I love you." It was kind of funny how much difficulty I had admitting that when I have fought people for years and never really given a second thought about the danger I was putting myself in. Because I knew when I went on missions what I was doing – I knew _why _I was doing them.

That's not saying I didn't understand why I was telling Tobias that I loved him, I did know – I really did love him.

But I never told anyone besides my family and Christina that I loved them. And even then, it wasn't the type of love that you have for a significant other. That type of love is way more powerful than family love. You give someone the power to use it against you or to break you.

"And you know that I love you." He smirks, pulling me into his side and pressing his lips to my forehead. It was true, I did know because he had already told me.

There was a knock on the door and Tobias groaned, standing up off the bed. Before he could open the door, Christina rushed in.

"Tris…its Jeanine."

I'm on my feet in seconds and following Christina. I can hear Tobias keeping up behind me, but I don't stop to wait for him.

We hurry down five flights of steps, to the basement where Caleb was being held. My hands instantly start to sweat and a lump forms in my throat.

_What if Jeanine's trying to kill Caleb? What if Caleb developed serum to inoculate him against the memory serum and he's still working with Jeanine? _

I mentally scolded myself and went back to focusing on following Christina.

Once we were past the security doors, we arrived into the room where a handful of agents were surrounding Jeanine Matthews, who was tied to a chair. One of the agents – Tori, I recognized her from her blue hair streaks and the tattoo on the back of her neck – was holding a knife to her throat.

"Beatrice!" I didn't realize it, but Caleb had been standing in the group of onlookers and was heading towards me. He had changed from his old outfit – now he was wearing dark blue jeans and a gray sweater. "Hey, where have you been?" He shoves his hands in his front pockets and nods at Tobias and Christina. Tobias places his hand on the small of my back. "They caught Jeanine Matthews…" He nods back towards the interrogation circle and I nod.

"What are they doing to her?" Christina asks, her voice hard. She knows that I told Caleb I forgave him for some of the things he did, but that doesn't mean that she forgave him. I mean, he was part of the reason Will died.

Caleb shrugs. "They're asking her about all those serums she tried to use against us and they're most likely going to kill her."

_Use against us._

So Caleb really didn't remember anything from these last few years. Maybe I could actually have my brother back.

No. He wouldn't be the same brother that he was when we were kids. When I look at him, all I see is his face after I beat him and I see the face of the boy who created serums that caused me so much pain and almost killed me – that did kill one of my friends.

But the memory serum wiped away that part of himself that he knew. He doesn't remember any part of that and maybe that's a good thing for him. Maybe I can forget about all of the things he did to me.

Jeanine's cold, hard voice broke through my internal struggle and I went into defense mode. "So you're allowing _him _to walk free but you'll kill me?" She scoffs and shakes her head, ignorant of the knife against her throat.

"He isn't going to remember any of the serums you taught him to develop and he didn't know that you were using them to try and kill people. He wasn't the one who was going to mindlessly enslave a large portion of Chicago's population." Tori's voice was harsh and it sounded like she was seconds away from slitting Jeanine's throat open. I walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking my head.

"Tori, you need to calm down." Tori whipped her head towards me and glared.

Jeanine laughed. "Well if it isn't the brave Beatrice Prior. How does it feel knowing you were the reason your brother isn't going to remember the past few years?" She smirks like she thinks her comment hurts me.

"Pretty fucking good, actually." My answer takes her, and a lot of other people, by surprise. "Because now I know he won't turn into a psychotic dictator like you." The red tint that had clouded my vision when I first saw Caleb in Jeanine's office comes back, but this time it is a darker red and my hands start to shake with anger. Footsteps approach behind me and I feel a warm hand gripping my elbow. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Tobias shake his head.

"Eaton…" Jeanine starts, tilting her head like a curious dog. "You're the other agent who broke into my building. I'm surprised you two survived. I heard you two tend to butt heads a lot." She was making small talk to try and stall her inevitable death.

"You have absolutely no right to talk." He spits.

"A little protective over your girlfriend, aren't you? Isn't she tougher than you?" Jeanine narrows her eyes.

Without thinking, I pull my hand back and let it snap forward, my first connecting with her jaw, then my fist connects with her nose and I hear a satisfying crack. _Good_.

"Beatrice!" I hear a voice gasp, but I don't react or turn towards it; I just pull my arm back and punch Jeanine again, this time in the mouth. There's blood coming from her nose and mouth and she's screaming. And then, instead of punching her again, I wrap my hands around her throat, cutting off her airways. She gags and grips at my hands trying to pry them off of her. Somewhere in the middle of the red haze, I realize _nobody is stopping me_. Nobody has tried to pry my hands off of her throat – a few people have walked away, but not because they thought it was wrong – and I'm sure that if I demanded Tori for her knife, she would've given it to me. Finally, when Jeanine's lips start to turn blue, I can feel Tobias grab my arms and yank me away from her. Jeanine gasps and lurches forward, gagging and breathing heavily.

"Tobias! Let me go! I want to kill her! She killed my father! I want to kill her!" I kick and scream as he drags me from the room. Caleb and Christina had apparently left already – Caleb was the one who called my name and Christina and a few others decided having him there might trigger some of his memories, so they took him out.

Once we're in the elevator, I shove Tobias away from me. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You were going to kill her." He steps back towards me and places two hands on my shoulders. I shrug them off.

"So what? They're still going to kill her! I just would've made it easier on them and I was the only one with a valid enough reason to kill her!"

Tobias shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. Lauren still wanted to interrogate her and find out if there was still anyone who was stupid enough to be working for her and David. We still need information from her."

The elevator stops and I storm out, heading straight for the closest door – it was an exit that led to a small balcony. It had a perfect view of the White House.

"Tris…" Tobias shuts the door behind him and I just shake my head, leaning over the balcony. My hands are still shaking, but not as much, and the red haze is gone. "Tris, look at me." He grabs my arm and forces me to turn around. "I understand your want for revenge, but just because you want it does not mean you should act on it."

He drops his hand from my arm and rests it on my waist. "You're smarter than that." I sigh, running my hands through my hair and then I wrap my arms around his waist, burying my face in his chest.

"I'm not very nice, am I?" Tobias chuckles, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

"No, you're not. But then again, neither am I." He replies and I manage a small smile, looking up at him. "I guess that's what makes us good for each other."

Standing on my tip-toes, I wrap my hands around the back of his neck to bring his lips down to mine.

* * *

**Oh, hey look! I finally got it up! Sorry it took so long, but like I've said - I have a lot of schoolwork and school-related things I have to get done. **

**As always, comments and reviews are always welcome and appreciated! **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

Tobias was still asleep by the time I woke up, so I slipped out of his bed as quietly and softly as I could and then headed into the hallway. Once I was safely in the hallway, I headed down the hall towards my bedroom. Christina was still asleep so I had to be quiet as I gathered up a fresh towel and some new, clean clothes to change into.

Once I was showered and in fresh clothes, I headed downstairs to the training rooms. It was only about eight-forty-two in the morning, but a majority of the rooms were already taken over with agents practicing or preparing for their next mission. I didn't want to deal with any on-lookers or gawkers so I headed down the hall to the private rooms, shutting the door behind me.

There was a large punching bag in the center of the small room and a few hand-punching pads on the floor in the corner.

I'm still not completely and totally healed from my last mission, so punching the bag hurts a bit so I focus mainly on kicking. I practice kneeing the bag and work on my roundhouse kicks.

After about an hour of kicking the bag, I'm covered in sweat and breathing heavily and I feel an arm wrap around my waist and a hand covers my mouth. After a second of initial panic, I come to my senses and smell Tobias's familiar scent and relax. "You still have trouble multi-tasking." He whispers, his lips brushing lightly against my ear.

I rip his hand off my mouth and then twisted his arm off my waist and managed to pull Tobias over so that I could knee his stomach – stopping centimeters from his abdomen before I could hurt him. "And yet, even healing, I can still manage to kick your ass." He straightens out, fixing his shirt and handing me a clean towel to dry off with. "So why did you come down here? I know it wasn't just so that I could kick your ass." I smirk and Tobias shakes his head.

"No, that wasn't it. I, uhm, Lauren needs to see us." Without another word, we head out of the practice room and up to Lauren's office.

Two agents in black suits are standing outside her door when we arrive and they open the doors for us. Once inside, we're shoved aside by different agents rushing by. Some agents from Operations and some from the labs. I make out Caleb's tall form by Lauren's desk. Shoving past the agents, I make my way to her desk and touch Caleb's arm lightly.

"What's going on?" I ask, looking from the agents surrounding a map and then to Lauren.

Lauren looks up, momentarily surprised by my appearance and then regains her composure. "Get suited up quickly, you're needed immediately."

"For what? You told me you don't want me in the field for a few weeks." My shoulder is still healing and some of the doctors are worried I'm not completely healed from my psychological torture – which is true, I still have nightmares.

She looks and sounds irritated when she speaks. "This is important – a memory serum is going to be used in D.C…"

"Jeanine and David are dead, there's nobody else there to control the serums." Tobias butts in, stepping forward next to me. "And besides, you collected all the serums…"

"We left the memory serums because we had no right to take that away. We only left small doses, but apparently someone was smart enough to concoct a much larger dose – one large enough to try and wipe the entire city of D.C.'s memory." Lauren glares at Caleb, who just looks confused. "We assumed your brother here did it, but it seems that he cannot remember how to create the serum and he also hasn't left our compound in weeks."

Caleb holds up his wrist, which contains a silver band that acts as a tracking bracelet – only instead of just tracking his whereabouts; it can also track his every electronic usage and denies him access to any and every lab in the compound.

"I'll go, Tris is still healing – it's dangerous." Tobias says.

I turn and glare at him. "I can go. Yes, I'm limited on certain movements, but I can do this. I'm not going to sit back and let someone wipe the entire city's memory, Tobias."

"I'm telling you to stay here." He crosses his arms over his chest and narrows his eyes.

Lauren sighs loudly. "If you two are done having a lover's quarrel, Tris you really need to get ready now." Tobias tries to argue but Lauren holds her hand up. "And if it'll make you feel better, Eaton, you can go."

Once we're out of her office and heading to our rooms, I walk slightly quicker than Tobias. How dare he try to tell me what to do! He was not in charge of me! We were the same ranking agents!

Back in my room again, Christina is already standing at the end of her bed with my bag packed and I throw on a pair of black pants, my boots and a black top. I nod to her and then hurry out the room and jog to the elevator and push the button for the armory. Tobias beat me there and is already zipping up a bag and strapping on a bullet-proof vest. Without looking at me, he hands me four knives and I slip them into my leg holsters along with two different pistols – one that uses real bullets and another that will just knock someone out for a few hours.

Other agents are rushing around, grabbing any gun they can get their hands on and strapping on vests. Someone nudges my shoulder and I turn to see Al holding a vest out for me. "Thanks." I flash him a grateful smile and then turn my back to him.

I climb into the car Tobias is in – he's driving – and I sit next to him in the passenger's seat. I place the vest on the floor and pull my legs up on the seat and into my chest.

"Look, Tris, I don't want this entire ride to be complete and utter silence." Tobias looks over at me, but I'm staring straight ahead. "I know it wasn't my place to tell you what you can and cannot do, but I'm just thinking of your well being."

"This is exactly what I was worried about, Tobias." I finally look over at him, but now he's focused on the road and worried about following behind the other agents in front of us. "I never did the relationship thing because I knew it was distracting. You're more worried about my safety than others and most likely yours."

He shakes his head. "That's not true." I give him a face and he sighs. "Alright, fine, but that's my choice. Putting your life before mine is _my _choice. Not yours, not Lauren's, mine. If you don't like that you're going to have to deal with it because I do love you and I will protect you even if it kills me."

"Don't talk like that." I look at him, feeling my stomach drop. "You can't talk like that. Not with our jobs."

One hand leaves the steering wheel and rests on my knee. I place my hand over top of his and he smiles softly. "Look, we're going to go in and finish this mission quickly. We'll be safe and everything will be okay and we can go back to being normal. Well, as normal as we can get." I smile and take a deep breath as we pull into a parking lot. The building looks like it's been abandoned for years; part of it is crumbling to pieces.

We get out of the car and I shut the door. The other agents are already out and heading towards us to come up with a plan of attack. One of the technology experts that came along climbs out of the back of one of the vans. "There seems to be only five people in there…all of them armed." She looks down at the tablet in his hand, shaking her head. "That's all I can see. I don't know what kind of weapons they are…"

"That's all we need to know, thank you." I nod to her and she nods back, climbing into the car again. Two agents stay at the car to protect her and the rest of us head inside.

Tobias and I are in the lead, ahead of everyone else. I have my pistol held out in front of me as I whip around corners. Tobias is on my left and I nod to him as him and three other agents take off to the left set of stairs, while me and four agents take to the right set of stairs.

When I reach the top of the second floor, I reach to the left of the wall and grab an arm, throwing the armed guard forward, landing a kick in his gut. He's taken by surprise but he's able to regain his composure, straightening his gun out and pointing it behind me, taking down two agents. "Put your weapon down!" I yell, pointing my gun at his chest. He doesn't like. "Put your weapon down!" I yell again. Once again, he doesn't drop his gun so I pull the trigger. The guard drops his gun and then falls to the floor.

"Tris!" Tobias calls out. I look up and give him thumbs up. "All clear?"

"All clear!" I answer back.

I make my way up to meet with Tobias, who looks relieved once I'm near him again. "Three men down…two to go. The last two should be on the next floor and we need to get up there now…before they release the serum." I nod to him and then he takes the front and I follow behind him up the steps.

Tobias rounds the corner and holds up his rifle, pointing it at the two men standing by a large set of computers. "Freeze! Put down your weapon and both of you…step away from the computers and serum."

When the two men turn around, I almost gasp. But I don't – I can't, that'd be bad for the company's image. The armed guard doesn't drop his weapon, so one of the remaining three agents we have shoots him with one of the guns with the knock-out bullets. The guard goes down and the other man is left unguarded and utterly helpless.

"Eric…" My voice is just barely a whisper and apparently it's satisfying to him. Tobias glances towards me, his rifle still pointed at Eric. "He worked for Jeanine. He was the one who would…"

Eric turns smug. "I was the one who would inject her with the fear serums Jeanine so did love."

I grab Tobias's arm before he can lurch forward, already knowing his plan before he even acts. "Tobias…" Shaking my head, I let go of his arm. "Eric, you need to step away from the serum and cancel the transaction."

He shakes his head. "I can't do that. You see, Jeanine knew you were going to break into the building to try and get the serums – well, the second time your friend broke in, anyways – and so she had planned everything so that when she died, I would be able to take over with just enough time to release the serum into D.C."

"You're going to erase your own memory, what is the point of that? Did Jeanine even tell you that, because obviously you're not smart enough to figure it out on your own?" Tobias spits, his knuckles going white around the gun.

"Oh no, that won't happen. I inoculated myself against the serum." He turns his back to us, completely unaffected by Tobias pointed a gun at him, and starts typing into the computer.

"Tobias…put the gun down." I place a hand on the top of his gun and look at him, his focus entirely on Eric. He's angry. And not just angry because of Eric wanting to delete everyone's memories, but because he was the one hurting me back in Jeanine's office. He already took out the other two people who hurt me; he wants to take out the last one.

"Agent Eaton, back down now!" Lauren's voice is in everyone's ears and we all glance at Tobias, who is still standing rigid, the gun pointed at Eric. "Agent! Back down! I repeat, back down now. Do _not _kill him. We need information from him."

Finally, Tobias lowers his gun while glaring at Eric's back. One of the agents hands him the gun with the stun bullets in them. "If you try to shoot me, I will release this serum prematurely, which will not only ruin your mission, but since it is not completely done, it could have deadly side effects on a lot of people."

He lowers the gun and looks at me, worried.

I look between Tobias and Eric. He still has his back to us, focused on the serum, confident that we won't attack him. I take a step towards Tobias and lean close to him. "I'm going to go up behind him and stop the serum."

"Tris…" He tries to argue but I press my finger to my lips to silence him. I hand him my gun and he tries to hold me back, but I shake my head.

Slowly, I creep up behind Eric. I try to see what he's typing, but it's hard – he's so much taller than me and his body his wide with muscles. I can hear Tobias behind me silently talking to the agents, who then clear the room and head back outside.

Once I'm behind him, I wrap my arm around his throat, locking my arm in place. My attack takes him by surprise and he staggers, allowing me to pull him back away from the computers. As soon as I let go of his throat, Tobias grabs him and yanks him away from me so that I can shut off the computers.

Honestly, I wish Christina had come along because I don't understand these computers at all. I may be able to take an armed guard down in two moves, but figuring out difficult technology? Hell no.

There's a small port with a vial of memory serum and it looks like a majority of wires are connected to it, so I rip the wires from the port and then do the same with the memory serum. "Got it!" I turn around, and as I do, I see Eric pulling the trigger on a gun. I don't have any time to process how he got it, all I see his Tobias's face before I stagger backwards, falling. My chest hurts and it feels wet and cold. My vision is going black at the edges as I watch Tobias shoot Eric with the stun gun and then he collapses, allowing Tobias to rush over to me.

"Tris! Where does it hurt?" He kneels down next to me, sliding his hand under my head to prop it up. "C'mon Tris, speak to me. Stay awake." I slowly reach my hand toward his and grab it. His hand tightens on mine and it feels so, so warm.

He has tears falling down his cheeks and I want to wipe them away but my arms won't move. "Tobias…" I cough and his eyes are filled with nothing but panic.

"Stay with me, baby. You gotta stay with me, Tris." He slides his arms under me, picking me up carefully. It hurts so much.

He tries not to jostle me around too much, but everything hurts. He moves as fast as he can with me and once we're outside, he orders three agents to go and get Eric.

The black in my vision is creeping in even more and I'm terrified to let it consume me. "We'll get you to the hospital, Tris, and you'll be safe. You're going to make it through this, I know you will."

I'm placed in the back of one of the vans on the floor and Tobias sits with me as the female technology expert drives as fast as she can. "Tobias…" My voice is softer than a whisper. He leans in closer to me, his forehead touching mine. "I – I love you."

He says something, but I can't hear it.

The blackness consumes me completely.

* * *

**Ayyy, I finally got it up! I know this is shorter than the other chapters, and I really apologize for that, but I just wanted to get this posted for you guys because I cannot remember when I posted the last chapter.**

**I would've written more but I have an idea for the next 1-2 chapters. And after that, the story will be finished. But don't worry, I'm already writing another story.**


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